Saoi

Saoi (Irish pronunciation: [sˠiː], plural Saoithe; literally "wise one"; historically the title of the head of a bardic school) is the highest honour bestowed by Aosdána, a state-supported association of Irish creative artists. The title is awarded, for life, to an existing Aosdána member. There are at most seven living Saoithe at any time;^[1] a limit increased from five in 2007–08.^[2][3] At the conferring ceremony, a torc (a twist/spiral of gold, worn around the neck) is presented to the Saoi, typically by the President of Ireland.

Nominating process

A committee of ten members of Aosdána referred to as the Toscaireacht^[4] monitor and manage the nominating process to confirm adherence to the established rules. Fifteen members of the Aosdána must nominate a candidate of merit and distinction. An election by secret ballot then occurs with all members. Approval is determined by at least 50% + 1 of the membership voting approval.

Only one nomination per vacancy may be processed through an election at a time. If multiple candidate submissions are received, they go through the election process one at a time until a successful approval is declared. Subsequent nominees are held until there is a future vacancy.

List

Saoithe of Aosdána^[5]

Name	Field[nb 1]	Elected	Invested	Died	Refs
Samuel Beckett	Literature	October 1984	1985 (in absentia)	1989	[6][7]
Seán Ó Faoláin	Literature	1986	1986	1991	[8]
Patrick Collins	Visual arts	1987	1987	1994	[9][10]
Mary Lavin	Literature	1992	1993	1996	[11][12]
Louis le Brocquy	Visual arts	1992	1993	2012	[13][11]
Tony O'Malley	Visual arts	1993	1993	2003	[11][14]
Benedict Kiely	Literature	March 1996	1996	2007	[15][16]
Francis Stuart	Literature	October 1996	1996	2000	[15][17]
Seamus Heaney	Literature	1997	1998	2013	[18][19]
Anthony Cronin	Literature	March 2003	27 June 2003	2016	[20][21]
Brian Friel	Literature	2006	2006	2015	[22]
Patrick Scott	Visual arts	28 March 2007	11 July 2007	2014	[23][3][24]
Camille Souter	Visual arts	9 May 2008	24 November 2008	2023	[2][25]
Seóirse Bodley	Music	September 2008	24 November 2008	2023	[26][25]
William Trevor	Literature	29 September 2014	2015	2016	[27][28]
Edna O'Brien	Literature	2015	15 September 2015	2024
Imogen Stuart	Visual arts	2015	15 September 2015	2024	[29]
George Morrison	Visual arts[nb 2]	2016	9 March 2017	2025	[32][31]
Tom Murphy	Literature	2017	2017	2018	[33]
Roger Doyle	Music	2019	2019	living	[34]

Notes

1. The fields of choreography and architecture have not produced any Saoithe.^[5]
2. Morrison is a filmmaker; there being no specific category for "film", he is classed by Aosdána under "visual arts".^[30][31]