DUBLIN CASTLE ART — The Historical and Contemporary Collection

by Róisín Kennedy

ISBN 978 07076 62800    136 pages (hardback)   27x23.5cm   144 illus    index  

This is the first book to be published on the fine collection of artworks housed at Dublin Castle. It beautifully illustrates many of these works in full colour, and it also provides a brief history of Dublin Castle, its furniture and the Chapel Royal. An excellent history of the collection includes detailed descriptions of St Patrick’s Hall, the Throne Room, the Picture Gallery, the royal portraits, the ceiling paintings, and the Granard bequest, as well as the collections of prints, marble, decorative ware and stuccowork. The contemporary collection is devoted to artworks commissioned specifically for Dublin Castle, most of which were installed in tandem with the Castle’s refurbishment in the late 1980s.

It is one of the most exciting developments on the Irish arts scene that the OPW is taking a serious interest in buildings in its charge. This splendid book is an indication of this new spirit. The illustrations are excellent, both of the works one sees and of the comparative material. Both Róisín Kennedy and the OPW are to be congratulated. 

— Anne Crookshank, Irish Arts Review

An informative and well-illustrated book. 

— The Phoenix

EXTRACT

"Dublin Castle features regularly in the media on the occasion of State visits to Ireland, presidential inaugurations, and public enquiries, and is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Ireland. In spite of its fame and notoriety, little attention has been paid to the collection of artworks housed within its walls. This book provides the first guide to the painting and sculpture of the State Apart­ments and to the other artworks located throughout the complex. Many of the historical paintings and sculpture have not been published before, and are attributed here to an artist for the first time. A discussion of the contemporary artworks and their commissioning is also included.
          All the works of art, both old and new, have become part of the fabric of Dublin Castle, and they provide a unique way of understanding this intriguing place. The text aims to highlight the importance of the artwork to Dublin Castle’s past and present, and to give the reader a sense of its context. Details of the provenance and commissioning of the works, and biographical details of the sitters in the many portraits of the collection will, it is hoped, make this a useful guide to the Castle for the general visitor.
          Readers with a particular interest in art will find that the Castle houses an impressive collection of paintings and sculpture, particularly of the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as one of the most interesting groups of contemporary site-specific artworks in the country.

— from the introduction by Róisín Kennedy