The Irish Baroque Orchestra is an early music

Early music

Early music is generally understood as comprising all music from the earliest times up to the Renaissance. However, today this term has come to include "any music for which a historically appropriate style of performance must be reconstructed on the basis of surviving scores, treatises,...

 ensemble based in the Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

. The Irish Baroque Orchestra is Ireland’s only professional period instrument orchestra. It was established in 1996 by Mark Duley

Mark Duley

Mark Duley is a choral director and organist from New Zealand. He is currently the chorus master of the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir.- Biography :Duley is a first class honours graduate of Auckland University. Post-graduate studies in organ brought him to the North German Organ Academy and to Amsterdam's...

 and Thérèse Timoney. The artistic director is currently Monica Huggett.

The orchestra presents four seasons of concerts annually along with a number of one off events. Each season includes a week of education, in conjunction with the Dublin Institute of Technology

Dublin Institute of Technology

Dublin Institute of Technology was established officially in 1992 under the but had been previously set up in 1978 on an ad-hoc basis. The institution can trace its origins back to 1887 with the establishment of various technical institutions in Dublin, Ireland...

 Conservatory of Music and Drama. Their repertoire is mostly from the 17th and 18th Century.

It performs across the country, taking residency at the Ardee Baroque Festival

Ardee Baroque Festival

Now in its fifth year, the Ardee Baroque Festival is a showcase of baroque music that takes place each November in the historic market town of Ardee, County Louth, Republic Of Ireland....

 each November in Ardee

Ardee

Ardee is a town and townland in County Louth, Ireland. It is located at the intersection of the N2, N52, and N33 roads. Ardee is on the banks of the River Dee and is approximately 20 km from Dundalk, Drogheda, Slane and Carrickmacross...

, County Louth

County Louth

County Louth is a county of Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Louth. Louth County Council is the local authority for the county...

. In 2009 the orchestra performed in the Dublin Handel Festival.

It is supported by RTÉ lyric fm

RTÉ lyric fm

RTÉ lyric fm is an Irish classical music radio station, owned by the public-service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann. The station, which is based in Limerick, was launched in 1999 and is available on FM in Ireland, on satellite, on Sky Digital in Ireland and United Kingdom and via the...

 and the Arts Council of Ireland

Arts Council of Ireland

The Arts Council of Ireland was founded in 1951 by the Government of Ireland to encourage interest in Irish art and channel to funding from the state to Irish artists and arts organisations...

.