Karena Morton uncovers the evidence of a more colourful medieval past, through existing fragments discovered within Ireland’s tower houses and religious sites
The Calendar of Documents Relating to Ireland records that in 1243, Henry III ordered a mural of the king and queen sitting with their baronage to be placed over the ‘devis’ of the New Hall in Dublin Castle.¹ If that commission was ever completed there are no traces of the painting surviving today.
Ireland is not the first country that springs to mind when considering medieval wall paintings or indeed frescoes, as they are so often and, sometimes incorrectly referred to. Wall paintings in Ireland, however, were far more numerous than might be expected when considering the often-paltry evidence that survives of them today.
