The Art of Devotion
Eamonn MacEneaney discusses the Pre-Reformation Magi Cope, one of the most spectacular High Mass vestments in the collection of Waterford’s Museum of Treasures

On Mature Reflection
Basil Blackshaw’s ‘third period’ exhibits a painterly assurance and vigour that places him among the finest European artists, argues Brian Fallon

Meditations on abstraction
Richard Gorman’s art underwent an emphatic change in the late 1980s and early 1990s, yet as he tells Brian McAvera, a continuity remains between the earlier work and his current colour-field painting

19th-century renaissance man
Peter Murray re-evaluates the work of George Petrie whose exhibition at the Crawford Municipal Gallery of Art, Cork includes a number of works unseen in public for many years

Refreshing the Landscape
Yvonne Scott considers the distinctive contribution made by landscape artist Mary Lohan to this timeless genre ahead of her exhibition at the Taylor Galleries Dublin

A Particular Mission
Brian Fallon assesses the work of relatively unknown sculptor Fr Flanagan (1918-1992) who saw his role as a ‘preacher in stone’

Composing the elements
Brian McAvera is impressed with the new confidence and mastery of familiar motifs in the compositional language of painter Gwen O’Dowd

Marking Time
Marianne O’Kane uncovers some of the multiple readings within Abigail O’Brien’s series based on the Seven Sacraments

The art of diplomacy
Eamonn McEneaney discusses the political and social significance of Waterford’s 14th-century illuminated Great Charter Roll

Perennial Splendour
Patrick Bowe conducts a tour around Mount Congreve, considered by many to be the finest garden in Europe, while John Mulcahy profiles its creator Ambrose Congreve

Classicism and civility
Julian Walton pays tribute to architect John Roberts, whose 18th-century secular and religious buildings contribute much to the elegance of Waterford City

The Wyses of Waterford
Rosemary Ryan outlines the social ascent of the distinguished Wyse family of Waterford from ‘Silken Thomas’ to Imperial France

Empire of China
The modest china merchant business begun by Thomas Higginbotham in 1787 developed into a 19th-century success story, writes Kevin Curry

IAR design Portfolio
Eleanor Flegg compiles a selection of the most innovative names, both new and established, in contemporary Irish design

Urban renewal
Eleanor Flegg reviews Clarion Quay, the Opus award-winning development by the Urban Projects team that successfully combines a mix of private and social housing in the Dublin’s Docklands