National Gallery of Ireland
Ireland's national art collection on Merrion Square, from Fra Angelico to Jack B. Yeats.
The National Gallery of Ireland holds the national collection of European and Irish fine art, numbering some 16,000 works. It was established by an Act of Parliament in 1854 and opened to the public in January 1864, in a building on Merrion Square designed with the involvement of Francis Fowke. The collection grew rapidly through bequests, notably that of Sir Hugh Lane, and through a share of the royalties left by George Bernard Shaw, who credited the gallery with much of his education.
The gallery occupies four linked wings. The original Dargan and Milltown wings face Merrion Square, while the Beit Wing was added in 1968 and the limestone-clad Millennium Wing, designed by Benson & Forsyth, opened onto Clare Street in 2002. A major refurbishment of the historic wings was completed in 2017. Displays cover Italian, Dutch, Flemish, Spanish, French and British painting, alongside the most comprehensive collection of Irish art anywhere.
Highlights
- Caravaggio's The Taking of Christ, rediscovered in Dublin in 1990
- The Yeats Collection, devoted to Jack B. Yeats and his family
- Vermeer's Woman Writing a Letter, with her Maid
- The barrel-vaulted Shaw Room and refurbished historic wings
