Eamonn McEneaney selects Blaise Smith’s View of Waterford 2016 from the collection of Waterford City Hall
Waterford, more than any other provincial city in Ireland, is deeply conscious of its sense of place as an urban entity for, as early as 13 72, the city fathers commissioned a view of the city showing it enclosed by white-washed stone towers, gates and walls. In the foreground the ships lie at anchor on the river Suir, underlining the fact that its wealth and position derived from its port. This image is a remarkable and evocative survival from the Middle Ages and is the earliest view of an Irish medieval city.
Mark Ewart visits the studio of Allihies-based artist Rachel Parry who transforms natural matter into mesmerizing art.
Kim Haughton’s portraits, on view now at the National Museum Collins Barracks, reflect on Ireland’s multi-layered society at the end of the first century of this nation state, writes Stephanie McBride
