Recalling the extraordinary history of Howth Castle, Peter Pearson makes a case for the state to purchase the castle and its domain, and provide an unparalleled amenity for the Irish public
Marie Bourke recalls Dublin’s art and industry exhibition of 1853, which provided the impetus for the formation of Ireland’s national museums, library and art gallery
Terence Reeves-Smyth visits Ardgillan Castle in County Dublin, noted for its magnificent coastal views and fine gardens
Roger Stalley elucidates architectural gems from the Middle Ages, the friaries of the West of Ireland, where many cloisters and carvings remain intact
Síghle Bhreathnach-Lynch looks at the extraordinary creation of a doll’s house by a retired British Army officer
Terence Reeves-Smyth looks at the history of Springhill House in Co Derry, three hundred years after its construction
Hiram Morgan relates the history of a 16th-century tapestry that features a tournament between British and Irish knights
Following a hunting fall, the hound saved the earl’s life by running back to the castle to raise the alarm, recounts Terence Reeves-Smyth
Nesta Butler traces the career of William Baillie, printmaker, art connoisseur and dealer
Peter Harbison delights in rediscovered watercolours by a master of the genre, Jg O’Brien aka Oben
Julian Walton and William Fraher explore the magnificent Curraghmore House in County Waterford, where, three hundred years ago, the union of two families produced the most powerful dynasty in late Georgian Ireland
Peter Harbison proposes that images on high crosses represent ‘good’ on their south-facing side and ‘bad’ on their north – the direction from which evil was thought to have come in medieval times
Cormac Bourke examines the use, fabric and design of hand-bells in Ireland from the 5th century, when they regulated monastic life
Robert Hensey presents the case for classifying Sligo’s passage tomb landscape as a World Heritage Site
Roger Stalley explores the plant and flower carvings on the capitals at Corcomroe abbey, designs that were unique at that time in Europe
Unravelling the sequence of carving on the stones has been challenging but has been helped by the fact that there are so many examples to study, writes Elizabeth Shee Twohig
Susan Curley Meyer explores a favourite Dublin ‘type’, the flower seller, and her representations in many forms of visual culture
Peter Pearson outlines the history of Dublin’s Drimnagh Castle, where he has spear-headed the restoration for nearly four decades
Peter Murray highlights paintings from the recent collection donated to the Crawford Art Gallery by the Port of Cork Company
Síghle Bhreathnach-Lynch reveals Sr Mary Concepta’s design and decoration of the Oratory of the Sacred Heart in Dún Laoghaire
Michael Connerty traces Jack B Yeats’ output of comics and comic-strip art
The great stone forts are the ultimate expressions of the political power of early medieval ruling families, writes Christiaan Corlett
Anne Hodge examines a series of drawings of scenes in Dublin and Wicklow, made by the writer and artist Edward Lear in 1835
Philip McEvansoneya follows the trail of a painting of Rembrandt’s wife, Saskia, from the shadow of the Galtee Mountains through Hermann Göring’s art collection, to Saskia’s hometown in the Netherlands
Kenneth McConkey considers works by John Lavery, painted during the artist’s frequent sojourns at home and abroad
Peter Pearson recounts the history and restoration of Powerscourt House, which occupies a distinguished place in Irish architectural history
Peter Pearson finds a wealth of horological riches in Waterford’s new museum
Roger Stalley examines the relationship between the carvings of the mason and the metalworker in building and shrine decoration in 12th-century Ireland
Peter Somerville-Large recounts the history of the National Museum of Ireland’s significant ethnographic collection, last displayed over thirty years ago
The discovery of a set of embroideries from 1932 highlights a period during which the new Irish State was presenting a religious and ancient identity to the outside world, writes William Shortall
There are echoes of the old Roman circus on the bases of Irish high crosses at Clonmacnoise, Monasterboice and Lorrha, writes Peter Harbison
The legacy of stained-glass artist Helen Moloney is in the vibrancy of her colours and her use of coloured glass and lead lines in an abstract manner, writes Bart Felle
Bernard Meehan explores a thousand-year-old Irish psalter on which new multispectral imaging has revealed details lost for centuries
Terence Reeves-Smyth recounts the history of Killymoon Castle, Co Tyrone, the first Irish commission of architect John Nash
Joseph McBrinn charts the history of Evie Hone’s Tullabeg windows, which illustrate scenes from the life of Christ
Unravelling the sequence of carving on the stones has been challenging but has been helped by the fact that there are so many examples to study, writes Elizabeth Shee Twohig
