The Golden Fleece Award is an artistic fund established as a charitable bequest by the late Helen Lillias Mitchell, who died in January 2000. She left this fund in place as part of her legacy to establish an annual award of approximately €20,000 overall. She was herself an inspirational weaver and painter who wanted to help Irish artists working in and through the traditional arts and crafts to develop their own unique talent and vision. She was responsible for setting up the textile department of the National College of Art and Design in Dublin and taught spinning, dyeing and weaving there for many years.She also founded the Irish Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers in 1973.

The Golden Fleece Award aims to support and promote a wide range of artistic creativity, recognising excellence in painting, textiles and sculpture, glasswork, and all the traditional crafts. The Award was launched in 2001 and is now widely recognised as a distinctive stamp of creative support in the realm of Irish art. The artistic achievement of the recipients to date offers a kaleidoscopic range of responses to the world we live in. In the first year the main award was won by Helen McAllister for her embroidered shoe forms, in the second by Margaret Corcoran for her painting in oil on linen and in the third year by Suzannah Vaughan for her pieces in glass and cement. The 2005 winner was Clive Bright for his painting in oils. In 2006, Stuart McGrath was given the award for his stonecarving project; Cara Thorpe, who works in wax and acrylic on board to create her pictures, was prizewinner for 2007. And in 2008, Eoin Mac Lochlainn won the award for his painting in oils.

A list of shortlisted and winning canditates of the Award since its inception, together with samples of their work, can be found on this website under Prizewinners.

There are four Trustees of the Award, including two nieces of Lillias Mitchell and two lawyers who worked closely with her to help establish the fund along the lines that she wished for. They are supported by a distinguished advisory panel whose knowledge and experience are invaluable in guiding the development of the Award. The panel comprises Bairbre Ní Fhloinn of the Department of Irish Folklore at UCD, Martin Gale of the RHA, Roisin de Buitlear (Chairperson of the Advisory Panel), artist in glass, and Nancy Larchet and Veronica Rowe, both of whom have involvements with the RDS.