Ballot Archive

05 Jun 2025

Candidate Details

Candidate Name

Frances Bailey

Academic degrees, honours etc.

BA Hons Art History and Classical History and Archaeology - Trinity College, Dublin.

Profession or occupation

Curator

Grounds for election

From 1982 to 83 Frances worked in the National Gallery, Ireland as a researcher and lecturer, then took on the role of Custodian of the Derek Hill Collection, Co Donegal, before joining the National Trust as a curator in 1989. She has had curatorial responsibility for all of the NT’s properties in Northern Ireland including great houses and landscapes, vernacular buildings and industrial sites. From 2011-15 she guided the dramatic restoration of Mount Stewart, undertaking ground-breaking research. Frances has published and lectured extensively on the house and its collections, as well as on other northern Irish houses, including a tour in the US for Royal Oak in 2007. Since 2021 Frances, as Senior National Curator, has specialised in Social and Irish history and has made a particular study of the horse in art and architecture. She maintains close links with heritage colleagues in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland including being on the board of the Castletown Foundation.

Signatories

The following Fellows have signed this Blue Paper