Philip McEvansoneya considers how the Trench Collection of Tibetan art in the National Museum of Ireland was acquired by the collector, and the museum, and asks if it’s time this ethnographic display was made more accessible to the public
Fiona Kearney selects a Claire Halpin painting from the University College Cork Art Collection
Mary Stratton Ryan outlines the life of artist Elizabeth Rivers, highlighting the woodcuts she created of the islanders of Inishmore
Rosemary Ryan selects a painting of Thomas ‘Bullocks’ Wyse and his sister Catherine in the collection of Bishop’s Palace, Waterford Treasures
Michael Waldron remembers Cork’s Munster Fine Art Club (1920–1988), which exhibited the work of local artists and Irish artists with national and international reputations
Christian Dupont uncovers Belfast artist Eva McKee’s vision for achieving aesthetic resonance through Celtic patterns and Art Nouveau styling
Christian Dupont probes the interplay of literary and visual arts in an exhibition inspired by Flann O’Brien and The Third Policeman.
Christian Dupont outlines the multitalented and free-spirited life of Juanita Casey
Catherine Bowe selects Songwood by Orla Barry from the Wexford County Council Art Collection
Hilary Pyle explores the formation of the Friends of the National Collections of Ireland and the role played by its founding member, Sarah Purser
Residency programmes are the life blood of the Ballinglen Arts Foundation, with each participating artist donating an artwork to the museum, writes Marie Bourke
John Turpin considers a pair of aquatints purchased by the Friends of the National Collections of Ireland, Ireland’s oldest arts charity
Christian Dupont applauds typographer, designer and letterpress printer Jamie Murphy, founder of The Salvage Press
As George Bernard Shaw’s generous bequest to the National Gallery of Ireland draws to a close, Peter Somerville-Large looks at how the funds have been distributed
William Shortall selects Elizabeth Yeats’ dance card from the Cuala Press Archive at Trinity College Dublin
Christian Dupont espies John Behan’s unused drawings for Thomas Kinsella’s ‘Glenmacnass’.
Christian Dupont looks at autograph books from women imprisoned during the Civil War
Peter Harbison reviews a collection of Beranger watercolours recently presented to the Royal Irish Academy
A Micheál Mac Liammóir watercolour leads Christian Dupont back to Yeats’ ‘The Stolen Child’
Roy Foster welcomes Waterford’s Museum Quarter, which celebrates the city’s heritage in spectacular style
The ethos of Quakerism informed the impulse to establish Waterford’s Municipal Art Collection, writes Peter Murray
Christian Dupont unveils Rowan Gillespie’s Four Irish Nobel Literary Laureates at Boston College.
From girlhood to adult, Eileen Lavery inspired her father. To mark the National Gallery’s acquisition of John Lavery’s Her First Communion Kenneth McConkey traces its artistic lineage
Christian Dupont considers the doodles on the cover of a notebook Flann O’Brien kept as secretary for the 1943 Cavan orphanage fire tribunal
Frederick Pyne looks for answers to questions of attribution for a fascinating collection of Irish cigarette cards
The Smurfit Art Collection spans three continents and contains some of the best 20th-century Irish art. Ciaran MacGonical reviews a new catalogue of the collection
It is almost twenty years since the National Gallery of Ireland received a surprise bequest from Máire MacNeill and her partner John (Jack) Lincoln Sweeney. Kevin Kelly tells the happy story
Peter Murray discusses the contents of Woodhill, the luxurious home of Cooper Penrose, a Quaker with patrician tastes
George Bernard Shaw’s gift to the National Gallery dramatically increased its buying power; Peter Somerville-Large recalls its investment by subsequent directors
Seventeen paintings by AE Russell, a collection of portraits by Estella Solomons and literary papers from writer Seamas O’Sullivan, form the core of a valuable bequest to Trinity College Dublin, that is testimony to an enduring friendship, writes Riann Coulter
The Niland Gallery in Sligo is fortunate in having an impressive collection of paintings by Jack B Yeats. But shouldn’t the focus on this illustrious native son be increased still further, asks Brian Harten?
Brendan Rooney evaluates George Collie’s genre scene, a gritty exception to the mainstay of the artist’s practice
Eamonn McEneaney selects The Dragon Mirrors designed by Thomas Johnson, from the Bishop’s Palace Collection, Waterford
Peater Pearson visits Waterford’s Medieval Museum which completes the trilogy of cultural venues celebrating the historic city’s material culture
Raymund Ryan visits Château la Coste, a stylish fusion of outdoor contemporary art and working vineyard, set within the natural beauty of Provence
Angela Griffith and Philip McEvansoneya discuss some highlights from an exhibition celebrating Irish artists’ engagement with publishing in the period 1830–1930.
Through the ambition of its fellows, legal entitlement and generous bequests, the Old Library, Trinity College Dublin has amassed a world-famous collection, writes Charles Benson in celebration of its tercentenary.
The contents of Ireland’s greatest country house have been assiduously catalogued in a new publication, but what of the unique pastels by Robert Healy that captured the Conollys at leisure, asks John Mulcahy.
Jennifer Goff describes the cultural background to the newly opened 19th-century music room, part of a new ensemble of historic room displays at the National Museum of Ireland
Alexandra Caccamo chooses some examples of exceptional botanical art bequeathed to the National Botanic Gardens by irascible horticulturalist William Edward Gumbleton.
Catherine Giltrap recalls the dynamic influence of George Dawson in initiating the Modern and contemporary art collection at TCD 50 years ago.
Conleth Manning investigates a valuable 19th-century record of Irish round towers now believed to be in the USA.
The American Roth family were drawn to Ireland by an admiration for W B Yeats and remained to create a home and art collection; Peter Murray recalls their journey
Peter Harbison discusses the little-known art collection of the Royal Irish Academy, which documents a number of its eminent members
Mirjam Foot selects a number of prime examples of 18th-century bindings collected by bibliophile Benjamin Guinness, the ownership of whose library was recently transferred to Marsh’s Library, Dublin
paul Caffrey gives a thumbnail sketch of 18th-century society drawn from the worlds of art, academia and the stage, as seen in the Comerford Collection
Hector McDonnell investigates the locations and sporting personalities associated with Glenarm Castle’s collection of 18th-century racehorse paintings.
Peter Harbison presents some little-known gems by George Victor Du Noyer, from the library of the Royal Irish Academy.
Hilary Pyle looks at the archive of papers and sketchbooks belonging to Estella Solomons preserved in the Manuscript Department of Trinity College Dublin
Peter Somerville Large explores the exotic art of the Pacific, originating with Captain Cook’s voyages in the region, held today in the National Museum of Ireland
From the renovation of the Shaw Room to the momentous rediscovery of a masterpiece, Sergio Bendetti recalls his career, spanning three decades, at the National Gallery of Ireland
Paul Caffrey explores a remarkable collection of Irish miniatures which provide a visual history of the family of the Earls of Shannon of Castle Martyr, County Cork
Patricia Butler selects a number of the finest examples of floras from the library collection at the National Botanic Gardens, Dublin
In 1869, Henry Doyle became the second Director of the fledgling National Gallery, Anne Hodge recalls his initiatives in shaping the first-class collection on view today
The National Self-Portrait Collection is a visual record of the exciting range of styles and approach employed by over 400 artists, writes James Hanley in this review of Volume 2
A lack of exhibition space and restricted budgets dog many museums, not least Ireland’s National Museum whose African artefacts Peter Somerville-Large recalls last viewing as a schoolboy
Pat Donlon pays tribute to the bibliophile whose private collection furnished the newly founded National Library in 1877
Karen Mullaney-Oignam reveals the extent of the Bryce family collection as their former home on Garinish Island, County Cork opens to the public this summer
Elizabeth Willms tracks the fate of a lost series of paintings from their original setting in Rathfarnham Castle to their sale in New York
Conleth Manning considers the evidence for authorship of some missing watercolours
A new addition to the wide array of decorative arts to be seen at Castletown will further enhance its integrated appeal, writes William Laffan
A collector’s personal initiative to mark 1916 delivers a reflective response from some of Ireland’s most prominent artists, writes Sarah Kelleher
More than a hundred years after his ancestors departed these shores, collector and philanthropist Brian P Burns is circling back, perhaps with an eye to adding to his outstanding collection of Irish art, writes John Mulcahy
Putting Irish arts in context has been a principal aim of our collecting mission at the John J Burns Library, Boston, writes Christian Dupont
Resplendent in its latest reconstruction, the National Gallery of Ireland needs a new and inspiring ‘Mission’ that places Irish art and artists at the centre of its activities, argues John Mulcahy