Places to visit: Art

The Ark

The Ark

The Ark is a unique, purpose-built cultural centre in the heart of Dublin’s Temple Bar, where children aged 2 -12 can explore theatre, music, literature, art, film, dance and more. The programme of world class performances, exhibitions and creative workshops changes every few weeks.

The Ark has a very busy programme for schools, providing primary school children with an exciting and enjoyable encounter with high-quality culture. The Ark aims to allow children to nurture their imaginations in an inspirational yet structured setting.

The Ark was designed by Michael Kelly and Shane O’Toole of Group 91 Architects and has received awards and praise for its innovative and contemporary design. Housed on the site of a former Presbyterian Meeting House (1728), it incorporates the carefully restored front facade of the church. It extends to 1,500 square meters (16,000 square feet) and houses a theatre, a gallery and a workshop.

The Ark’s core space, the Theatre, has been built to intimate proportions so as not to intimidate children. The amphitheatre-shaped space also adds to the feeling of warmth, and ensures that the audience feels closely connected to the performances.

“The Ark was one of the great and certainly one of the most enduring initiatives to come out of the reinvention of Temple Bar. My children loved the place, so warm and welcoming and fairly fizzing with creativity, and now that they are too old for it – but then, is one ever too old for The Ark? – they recall it with vivid fondness. Long may this wonderful children’s centre thrive.” [John Banville, novelist and screenwriter]

“I had a fantastic experience working with all the people at The Ark on The Giant Blue Hand. I found them hugely enthusiastic, extremely committed and with the highest production values, as high, if not higher than in any other professional theatre company. I honestly feel this production at The Ark has raised the bar for children’s theatre in this country.” [Marina Carr, Playwright, ‘The Giant Blue Hand’]

Opening Hours:
Event dates, times and prices vary. Advance booking is recommended (no refunds).

Bookings can be made online, or from the box office.
The box office is open Tuesday-Friday from 10am – 4pm, and one hour before performances and workshops on weekends and in the evening.

Groups attending events at The Ark can claim one free ticket with every 10 purchased, and can reserve tickets without having to make full payment at the time of the reservation.
Contact venue to discuss group bookings.

Contact & Pricing:
ark.ie
boxoffice@ark.ie
Tel: 01 670 7788
11a Eustace St, Temple Bar, Dublin 2
Tickets from €15; discounts for schools & large groups

Dalkey Castle

Dalkey Castle and Heritage Centre

Dalkey Castle is one of the seven fortified town houses/castles of Dalkey. The castles  were built to store goods off-loaded in Dalkey during the Middle Ages, when Dalkey acted as the port for Dublin. From the mid-1300s to the late 1500s, large Anglo-Norman ships could not access Dublin, as the river Liffey was silted up. But they could anchor safely in the deep waters of Dalkey Sound. The castles all had defensive features to protect goods from being plundered. These are all still visible on the site.

On site you will find a medieval castle/fortified townhouse, an early Christian Church, a state of the art Heritage Centre, and a Writers’ Gallery with portraits and interactive screens featuring the work of 45 writers and creative artists. Climb to the battlements for panoramic views of sea and mountains. Enjoy the peace and tranquillity of the early Christian Church and Graveyard, dedicated to Saint Begnet. Browse the interactive time line from early Christian through Viking, Medieval, Victorian and modern times.

Guided living history tours – Professional actors bring history to life with a fun theatre performance as part of the guided tour. Travel back in time and be enthralled by the work of the Archer, the Cook and the travelling Barber-Surgeon. Actors from Deilg Inis Living History Theatre Company involve you in their lives, their work and their stories.

Opening Hours:
Mon to Fri 10am – 5.30pm. Closed Tuesdays.
Sat, Sun & Bank Holidays 11am – 5.30 pm
Open until 6pm in June, July & August.

Special events, tours and prices vary seasonally.
Advanced online booking is recommended.
Entry to the Heritage Centre is included in the guided tour price.

Contact & Pricing:
dalkeycastle.com
info@dalkeycastle.com
Tel: 01 285 8366.
Castle Street, Dalkey, Co. Dublin.
Adults starting from €15; concessions.

Hugh Lane Gallery

Hugh Lane Gallery

The Hugh Lane Gallery is the oldest gallery of modern and contemporary art in Ireland, housing 2,000 artworks, including Manet, Monet, Renoir and Degas, and the Francis Bacon studio. The gallery organises regular classical music concerts (Sundays at noon), lectures, etc.

The Hugh Lane Gallery first opened its doors in January 1908 in Clonmel House, Harcourt Street, and is thought to be among the first galleries of modern art in the world. In 1933 the Gallery moved to Charlemont House in Parnell Square, a neo-classical town house designed in 1765 by William Chambers for James Caulfield, the first Earl of Charlemont.

In 2006 a new extension designed by Gilroy McMahon saw the gallery double in size with additional space now available to show permanent collection items as well as facilitating temporary exhibitions. There is also a dedicated learning space, together with a bookshop and café.

The Gallery’s collection includes the renowned Hugh Lane Bequest 1917 (shared with the National Gallery, London) which includes masterpieces by Manet, Monet, Degas, Renoir and Morisot among others.

“The Eve of St Agnes”, the masterpiece of the renowned 20th Century stained glass artist, Harry Clarke, is very popular with visitors.

Francis Bacon’s legendary studio was relocated from 7 Reece Mews, London, to Dublin in 1998 and is now on permanent display. Together with fascinating unfinished works by Bacon, there are display cases presenting items from the studio, an audio visual room and touch screen terminals which allow the visitor to explore the life and art of one of the most important artists of the 20th Century.

The layout upon entering the Gallery can be confusing. If you turn right (passing the reception desk) and go up the stairs, you will visit the 2006 Extension where generally very modern works are exhibited. The Extension design is stark and cold. However, if upon entering the front doors of the Gallery, you stay on the ground floor and walk straight ahead for about eight metres, you will arrive at the Harry Clarke exhibit on your left, while a little further on are rooms displaying classic European artists, culminating with the striking Francis Bacon studio. The most rewarding part of one’s visit will be in this area.

Opening Hours:
Tues to Thurs: 9.45am – 6pm
Friday: 9.45am – 5pm
Saturday: 10am – 5pm
Sunday: 11am – 5pm
Closed Mondays

Contact & Pricing:
hughlane.ie
info.hughlane@dublincity.ie
Tel: 01 222 5564
Charlemont House, Parnell Square North, Dublin 1
Admission free

IMMA

Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA)

The Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) is Ireland’s leading institution for modern art and is located at the atmospheric complex of buildings known as the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham. [For heritage information about this location, please see the separate entry entitled “Royal Hospital Kilmainham“.]

The Museum’s temporary exhibition programme regularly juxtaposes the work of leading, well-established figures with that of younger-generation artists to create a debate about the nature and function of art. Works shown range from painting and sculpture to installation, photography, video and performance. 

Exhibitions usually last three to four months and up to four shows can be on view at any one time. IMMA originates many of its exhibitions but also works closely with a network of international galleries and museums.

This link takes you to a list of current events and exhibitions:  www.imma.ie

Opening Hours:
Tues to Sat: 10am – 5.30 pm (except Wednesday, opens 11.30am)
Sundays & Bank Holidays 12pm – 5.30pm
Closed Mondays (except Bank Holidays), Good Friday, 24-26 Dec.

Tours providing a general introduction to IMMA exhibitions take place Wed, Sat & Sun 2.30 pm. Each tour lasts 30 minutes. No booking required, arrive early for tours as numbers are limited.

Pre-booked guided tours are available, but must be booked at least 2 weeks in advance. Tour booking times are Tuesday to Friday at 9.30am, 10.30am, 11.30am and 2.30pm.

Tours are led by IMMA staff and are free of charge, donations are welcome.

Contact & Pricing:
imma.ie
Tel: 01 612 9900
Royal Hospital, Military Road, Kilmainham, Dublin 8.
Admission free (there is a charge for occasional special exhibitions).

Irish Traditional Music Archive

Irish Traditional Music Archive

The Irish Traditional Music Archive is the national reference archive and resource centre for the traditional song, instrumental music and dance of Ireland. Here is found the largest collection in existence of sound recordings, books/serials, sheet music and ballad sheets, photographs, and videos/DVDs for the appreciation and study of Irish traditional music. The archive also holds a representative collection of the traditional music of other countries.

Visitors may listen to recordings, view DVDs and photographs, read music collections, and research material and topics of interest. The archive is open to all but for study and research purposes only.

Opening Hours:
Mon to Fri: 10am – 5pm, closed between 1pm and 2pm.
No booking required.

Contact & Pricing:
itma.ie
info@itma.ie
Tel: 01 661 9699.
73 Merrion Square, Dublin 2
Free admission; donations welcome.

National Gallery

In 1852 William Dargan, the father of the Irish rail network, approached the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) with an offer to underwrite a spectacular exhibition on Leinster Lawn in Dublin, the home of the RDS at the time. Just eleven months later, the exhibition was opened in an astonishing series of pavilions for which the architect, John Benson, received a knighthood. The enthusiastic response of the visiting crowds demonstrated an active interest in the establishment of a permanent public collection.

The next ten years saw active campaigning for the funding of a new Gallery building which was designed by Francis Fowke. In January 1864, the Earl of Carlisle officially opened the National Gallery of Ireland to the public. The collection consisted of just 112 pictures, including 39 purchased in Rome in 1856 and 30 which were on loan from the National Gallery London and elsewhere.

The Gallery thrived over the years through purchases, bequests and donations. In 1901 the Countess of Milltown gifted over 200 pictures to the gallery from her house at Russborough as well as a collection of silver, furniture and books from her library. The gift was so substantial that a new extension was constructed to accommodate it.

In 1968 the gallery was extended again with designs by Frank DuBerry. This extension is today named the Beit Wing in acknowledgement of the generosity of Sir Alfred and Lady Beit who gifted 17 outstanding old master pictures to the nation in 1987. Some six years later in 1993 the Gallery became the focus of international attention when Caravaggio’s, ‘The Taking of Christ’, a painting recorded in contemporary biographies on the artist and known through copies but long believed to be lost or destroyed, was discovered in a Jesuit house of studies in Dublin. The picture remains in the gallery on indefinite loan from the Jesuit fathers.

The National Gallery houses some 15,000 paintings, sculptures, works on paper and objets d’art dating from the early thirteenth century through to the mid-twentieth century. The collection boasts an impressive range of masterpieces by artists from the major European schools of art whilst also featuring the world’s most comprehensive collection of Irish art.

In June 2017 the Gallery re-opened to the public following a period of extensive refurbishment and modernisation of its historic wings on Merrion Square. The grand scale of the Shaw Room at entry level and the monumental galleries in the Dargan and Milltown wings now give the displays a renewed sense of space and grandeur.

The beautifully transformed spaces now feature an entirely new presentation of the celebrated permanent collection featuring master paintings by Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Ruisdael, Vermeer, Gainsborough, Goya, Monet, Gris and Picasso. The Gallery is also able to once again display its prestigious collection of Irish art with works by Daniel Maclise, Roderic O’Conor, John Lavery, William Orpen, Seán Keating, Gerard Dillon, Evie Hone, Norah McGuinness, Jack B. Yeats, Louis le Brocquy and William Scott.

This multimillion-euro refurbishment project was carried out by the Office of Public Works’ Project Management Services, with architects Heneghan Peng as the Design Team Leaders.

Central to the modernisation work was the construction of a state-of-the-art underground energy centre housing vital services. Original nineteenth-century architectural features and spaces are revealed and majestic windows now open onto a spacious light-filled courtyard. The new courtyard dramatically enhances visitors’ orientation between the historic Dargan and Milltown wings. It is also the site for a dramatic sculpture, Magnus Modus, by Joseph Walsh.

The period of refurbishment also allowed for an extensive survey of the Gallery’s permanent collection. More than 450 works have undergone conservation and research. The most spectacular of these is Daniel Maclise’s The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife (1854), which has been returned to the elegant surrounds of the Shaw Room in the Dargan Wing.

The refurbished galleries on Merrion Square display over 650 works of art from the permanent collection presented broadly chronologically. The Irish collections are prominent at ground level with European art on the upper level.

An integral part of Gallery is the National Portrait Collection which shows works of eminent Irishmen (Seamus Heaney, TK Whitaker, Brian Friel) and Irishwomen (Mary Robinson, Sr Stanislaus Kennedy) who have contributed to the social, historic, cultural and political life of the country. Most recent acquisitions include portraits of Tony award winning theatre director, Garry Hynes by Vera Klute a portrait of Graham Norton by Gareth Reid, commissioned as part of Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2016, and a portrait of Henry Shefflin by Gerry Davis, commissioned as part of the Hennessy Portrait Prize 2016.

The Gallery complex consists of four interconnected buildings:

Dargan Wing: Designed by Francis Fowke and inaugurated in 1864, this constitutes the earliest element in the complex. Its exterior design was determined by the requirement to mirror Francis Clarendon’s elegant Natural History Museum of 1856 located directly across Leinster Lawn. The wing was named in honour of William Dargan (1799-1867), the great Irish railway magnate, who formed a ‘Dargan Committee’ to promote the establishment of a National Gallery in Dublin. A statue of Dargan stands in the front lawn of the Gallery on Merrion Square. One of the most beautiful spaces in the Dargan wing is the Shaw Room, named after George Bernard Shaw who bequeathed one third of his royalties to the National Gallery of Ireland, which, he documented as being of significant influence throughout his childhood.

Milltown Wing: Based on designs by Thomas Manley Deane, the project, which was inaugurated in 1903, was delivered by his son Thomas Newham Deane who inherited the practice from his father. The wing is named in recognition of the Countess of Milltown who presented 200 works of art comprising paintings, silver, furniture and books to the National Gallery of Ireland from her house at Russborough, Co. Wicklow (1902). Formally gifted in July, the collection arrived in 1906.

Beit Wing: Based on designs by Frank du Berry, Senior Architect at the OPW this modern addition provided not only additional galleries but also incorporated a library, lecture theatre and restaurant together with the provision of a conservation studio. It was refurbished in the 1990s by the Office of Public Works (OPW). Originally called the Modern wing, then the North wing, it was named the Beit wing in honour of the munificent gift to the Gallery (1987) of seventeen masterpieces by Sir Alfred and Lady Beit, which included works by Vermeer, Goya, Murillo, Ruisdael, Hobbema, and Velazquez.

Millennium Wing: Opened in January 2002, this wing was designed by the London-based practice, Benson & Forsyth, who were awarded the commission following an international competition. The Portland stone clad façade of this building gives directly onto Clare Street, a busy thoroughfare directly opposite Trinity College, and contrasts with the reserved elegance of the original entrance on Merrion Square.

You can consult the following links to get information about the national portrait collection, and highlights of the Gallery’s collection.

www.nationalgallery.ie (national portrait collection)

www.nationalgallery.ie (highlights)

Opening Hours:
Sun & Mon: 11am – 5.30pm
Tues, Wed, Fri & Sat: 9.15 am – 5.30pm
Thurs: 9.15 am – 8.30pm.
Upper floors begin closing 40mins before general closing times.

General admission is free, no booking necessary.
Tickets may be required for some events and exhibitions.
A limited number of free tours are available, usually on weekends only.
Check the website for details, and to book tickets if necessary.

Closed Good Friday and 24 – 26 December.

Contact & Pricing:
nationalgallery.ie
info@ngi.ie
Tel: 01 661 5133
Merrion Square West, Dublin 2
Admission to the permanent collection is free.

National Museum Collins Barracks

National Museum (Collins Barracks)

The National Museum (Collins Barracks) houses the  national Decorative Arts and History collection, charting Ireland’s economic, social, political and  military progress through the ages. Displays range from silver, Asian Art, ceramic and glassware pieces to weaponry, furniture, and examples of folk life and costume.

A very interesting complex of buildings in its own right, the museum at Collins Barracks is extensive and warrants at least a half-day visit. A full day’s outing for visitors to Dublin could include an initial tour of the superbly atmospheric Kilmainham Gaol (only ten minutes away from Collins Barracks), followed by lunch in Brambles Café (on site at the National Museum), and concluding with a leisurely afternoon taking in the attractions listed below.

2023 permanent exhibitions include:

  • A Dubliner’s Collection of Asian Art – The Albert Bender Exhibition (a highly important Asian art collection given to the National Museum during the 1930s by the great Irish-American Albert Bender)
  • The Asgard – discover the historic Asgard yacht, learn about the 1914 Howth gun running episode and the Irish Volunteers, and meet Erskine Childers and Roger Casement
  • Eileen Gray – Regarded as one of the most influential 20th Century designers and architects, Eileen Gray (an Irish woman) was renowned in France as a designer in lacquer furniture and interiors. She began to experiment with architectural forms in the late 1920s. Hers was a new approach to shape, line, the use of colour, materials and textures; and the human sensibility of her work continues to inspire designers today.
  • The Way We Wore (250 years of Irish clothing and jewellery)
  • Out of Storage – this double-height gallery is designed to give the visitor an impression of the range of artefacts in the reserve collections of the National Museum. The 500 pieces displayed were chosen to reflect the collecting policies of the Museum through the years.
  • Irish Silver – this exhibition traces the development of the silversmith’s craft from the early 17th Century to the present day. It addresses the evolution of design and examines the mining, assaying, and crafting of this precious metal. It also illustrates the various uses of silver – religious, domestic and ceremonial – and by means of vignettes seeks to place the objects in their historical and economic context.
  • Reconstructed Rooms: Four centuries of furnishings from the Georgian era to contemporary Irish furniture design
  • Curator’s Choice: 25 special objects from the Museum’s collections chosen by the Museum’s own curators. Particularly noteworthy are the Fonthill Vase (the earliest documented piece of Chinese porcelain in Europe),  a 2,000 year old Japanese ceremonial bell , and the decorative gauntlets worn by King William at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.
  • Airgead – 1,000 Years of Irish Coins & Currency
  • Irish Country Furniture – this exhibition displays the furniture typically found in the traditional rural Irish home (including a re-construction of a country kitchen). It shows a range of styles from different areas of the country, the functional nature of each piece, and the skill of native Irish craftsmen. The display also highlights the evolution and development of traditional furniture and furnishings as Ireland’s social and economic circumstances changed through the 19th and 20th centuries.
  • Soldiers  & Chiefs (The Irish at War at Home & Abroad, 1550-2001). This very extensive exhibition uses original artefacts, letters, replicas and audio accounts to show the influence of Irish military participation over the centuries in a host of wars, both at home and abroad.
  • Irish wars 1919 to 1923 – An online exhibition which explores a selection of the newly displayed objects which feature in the Soldiers and Chiefs exhibition. The exhibition covers such themes as civil disobedience, imprisonment, hunger strike, propaganda, women in warfare and the effects of the conflict on civilian populations.
  • Spoon Garden – During 2020, the Design and Crafts Council Ireland and the National Museum of Ireland jointly commissioned a piece of work, by way of competition, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Crafts people were invited to submit designs for a work that, when finished, would act as a tangible remembrance of that unprecedented period of crisis during the first lockdown. Cork-based silversmith Annemarie Reinhold won the competition with her gardening inspired designs for Spoon Garden, a sculptural work comprising vegetable-shaped silver spoons and silver seedlings, each displayed within its own wooden block.

Current temporary exhibitions:

  • Down to Earth – Exploring Ireland’s Geology: An exhibition that tells the story of how scientists have developed their understanding of our planet over the last 175 years. The museum is the holder of a vast geological collection yet little of it has been seen by Museum audiences in over fifty years. A partnership with Geological Survey Ireland is bringing these precious samples back into public display and includes real mineral specimens collected in nineteenth-century Ireland and observed through the lens of modern science.
  • Contemporary Collection of Design & Craft – an exhibition illustrating the best of Irish contemporary craft and design from both home and abroad
  • 21st Century Irish Craft – an exhibition showcasing the best of Irish ceramics, glass, furniture, wood turning, jewellery, accessories and silverware
  • Recovered voices: the Stories of the Irish at War, 1914-15 (About 21,000 Irishmen were already serving in the British Army when war broke out in 1914. ‘Recovered Voices’ explores what happened to them and the other 47,000 who joined in the first few years of the war. From the lush green fields of France in the summer of 1914, through that first Christmas in the trenches, to the sun dried beaches of Turkey in 1915, this exhibition unveils the complexity of Ireland’s part in World War One).
  • Ib Jorgensen:  A Fashion Retrospective – From the 1950s to the 1990s, Jorgensen was one of Ireland’s leading fashion designers, attracting a clientele from amongst the wealthiest and most stylish women in the country.
  • Proclaiming a Republic: The 1916 Rising – Available as a virtual show only. The exhibition explores the background to the 1916 Rising and introduces the visitor to the nuances of contemporary political events – the rise of the Catholic élite; the push for Home Rule along with the counter-moves of unionism; the increasingly nationalistic  tone of the arts and cultural movements of the period; and the political growth of republicanism.
  • Alison Lowry: Hidden Truths – an artistic response to the legacy of mother and baby homes and Magdalene laundries
  • Little Houses – an exhibition of artworks created through a collaborative partnership between the Stoneybatter Youth Service and the National Museum. The artworks were created by young people from the community close to Collins Barracks during the series of Lockdowns since March 2020. The exhibition is a visual record of their experiences of the pandemic and its impact on the community, and wider society.
  • Studio & State – This exhibition features for the first time Sir John Lavery’s paintings of the Treaty signatories (loaned by the Hugh Lane Gallery) next to contemporary artefacts of the time from the Museum’s own collection. Museum objects include the fountain pen reputedly used by Michael Collins to sign the original Treaty document and propaganda handbills. Studio & State explores events between July 1921, when the Truce was agreed in Dublin, and January 1922, when the Anglo-Irish Treaty was narrowly ratified in Dáil Éireann.  The negotiations for and signing of the Treaty were crystallising moments for Ireland in the twentieth century. The Treaty was both a vehicle of peace as well as a catalyst for civil war. Sir John Lavery’s paintings provide an unparalleled record of this pivotal moment.
  • Imaging Conflict – 150 images and five original photograph books from the NMI’s collection relating to the Irish revolutionary era of 1913 – 1923, as well as images of Irish men and women in conflicts overseas. The majority of the images have not been on display publicly before. 
  • An Gorta Mór – An Gorta Mór or the Great Irish Famine has left us with few material objects with a direct verifiable link to this traumatic time. The strength of connection to the Famine story through the objects we can use, varies.
    Some may have a direct connection to the Famine years or come from the wider period in general. Others came into the Museum with a Famine association. More may be from a later period, but were similar to objects used at the time.

Opening Hours:
Tues to Sat: 10am – 5pm
Sun & Mon: 1pm – 5pm
May be open late on Thursdays during busy periods.
Open on Bank Holiday Mondays.
24 Dec 10am – 12pm

Closed Good Friday, 25 & 26 Dec.
Temporary partial closures are not uncommon, so it is advised to check the relevant website for updates.

Contact & Pricing:
museum.ie
marketing@museum.ie
Tel: 01 677 7444
Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, Dublin 7
Free admission

National Photographic Archive

National Photographic Archive

The National Photographic Archive houses the photographic collections of the National Library of Ireland (5.2 million photographs). There is a reading room and a gallery which showcases a programme of regularly changing exhibitions. Over 20,000 glass plate negatives (1870-1954) have been digitised and are viewable online.

People & Places: Ireland in 19th & 20th Centuries, is the current exhibition.

There are several online exhibitions, and most of the archive is available to view online at catalogue.nli.ie.

Opening Hours:
Open 7 days: 10am – 4pm
The reading room in the NPA is open to researchers, by prior appointment only.

Contact & Pricing:
www.nli.ie
npaoffice@nli.ie
Meeting House Square, Temple Bar, Dublin 2
Tel: 01 603 0200
Admission free

Gallery Of Photography

Photo Museum Ireland

Ireland’s premier venue for photography exhibitions.
To arrange a free tour of the Gallery and an informal talk on the current exhibition, contact the education officer.

Opening Hours:
Open Tues-Sat 11am – 5pm, closed Sunday, Monday by appointment only.
May be open late during summer months, check website for current opening hours.

Contact & Pricing:
photomuseumireland.ie
info@photomuseumireland.ie
Tel: 01 671 4654
Meeting House Square, Temple Bar, Dublin 2
Admission free

Royal Hibernian Academy

Royal Hibernian Academy

The Royal Hibernian Academy is an artist based and artist orientated institution dedicated to developing the public’s appreciation and understanding of traditional and innovative approaches to the visual arts. The Academy achieves its objectives through its exhibition, education and collection programmes.

The Academy has five galleries. Three on the first floor are dedicated to curated exhibitions of Irish and international art: The main gallery space comes to some 6000 sq.ft. The other two galleries have 1500 sq.ft each.

The Ashford Gallery is situated on the ground floor (1100 sq.ft.) and provides a service to artists who do not have commercial representation in Dublin. It is designed to introduce artists to the collecting public and prove their commercial viability.

The Dr Tony Ryan Gallery is also on the ground floor and is dedicated to showing private and public collections, including from time to time selections from the RHA Collection.

The RHA originated when artists from the Society of Artists in Ireland petitioned the Viceroy in the late 1700s for the opportunity to exhibit their works annually. A Royal Charter was finally granted in 1821, and the deeds were received in 1823, giving the Academy independence from all other institutions.

The RHA is made up of 30 Members, 15 Senior Members and 10 Associate Members, all of whom are professional artists. The disciplines of Architecture, Painting, Sculpture and Print (including Photography) are all represented by the Academy’s broad national membership.

In 1825 Francis Johnson, the esteemed Georgian architect, endowed the Academy with a house and Exhibition Gallery in Lower Abbey Street, which was subsequently destroyed by fire during the Easter Rising of 1916. The Academy was without a permanent premises until 1939, when it acquired the house and garden of 15 Ely Place.

In 1970 Matthew Gallagher of the Gallagher Group offered to provide the RHA with a complete gallery on the site at Ely Place. The new gallery was finally opened to the public in 1985 for the 156th Annual Exhibition, the first the RHA had held on its own premises for 69 years.

Opening Hours:
Mon to Sat: 11am – 5pm, open until 6.30pm on Wednesdays
Sunday: 12pm – 5pm
See what’s on here.

Contact & Pricing:
rhagallery.ie
info@rhagallery.ie
Tel: 01 661 2558
Gallagher Gallery, 15 Ely Place, Dublin 2
Admission free