Exhibition

A new exhibition showcasing six of Harry Clarke’s stained-glass panels, including some of his earliest known works, opens on the 5th December. The exhibition – Harry Clarke’s-Stained Glass – will run for at least two years, when the Crawford Art Gallery is anticipated to reopen.

A special collaboration between the National Museum and Crawford Art Gallery, the exhibition brings together panels not previously displayed in the same place before. 

Three of the panels have travelled to the National Museum from the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork as it closes for its ambitious redevelopment project, ‘Transforming Crawford Art Gallery’.

Harry Clarke (1889 – 1931) is one of Ireland’s most renowned stained-glass artists and illustrators. His work is celebrated internationally for its originality of design and impressive technical skill, not least in Ireland where his work is present in 16 counties, mostly in churches.

The panels on display in Harry Clarke’s-Stained Glass each reveal Clarke’s distinct vision, inviting visitors into the world of religious and fantastical imagery that defined his career. They include:

• The Consecration of St. Mel, Bishop of Longford, by St. Patrick (1910)
• The Meeting of St. Brendan with the Unhappy Judas (1911)
• The Godhead Enthroned (1911)
• The Unhappy Judas (1913)
• A Meeting (1918)
• Richard Mulcahy (c. 1925)

The National Museum of Ireland gift shop is thrilled to offer an in-shop exclusive festive gift inspired by Harry Clarke’s Stained Glass.

This beautifully hand-decorated Christmas bauble draws inspiration from A Meeting (1918), one of Harry Clarke’s stunning masterpieces, currently featured in the Harry Clarke’s Stained Glass exhibition.Available to purchase instore in both Kildare Street and Collins Barracks. The cost of the decoration is €25 each. 

A special collaboration between the National Museum and Crawford Art Gallery, the exhibition brings together panels not previously displayed in the same place before. 

18 July – 6 December 2026
Print Gallery | Admission free.

In celebration of Ireland’s Presidency of The Council of the European Union, this special exhibition features some fifty of our finest works on paper by artists from across Europe. Drawings, prints, watercolours and photographs by a range of European artists from the fifteenth century to the present day are included. The exhibition explores the diverse subjects and styles that have shaped European art through the centuries. Reflecting shifts in taste and technique over the centuries, the exhibition showcases the strength of the Gallery’s collection across the various schools.

Curator: Niamh MacNally, Curator of the Prints and Drawings Study Room at the National Gallery of Ireland.

Funded as part of the Culture Programme for Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026.

The exhibition Technologies of Peace: Art and Transition in Contemporary Europe (1989–2026) aims to explore the concept of peace, the tools of peace and how they are deployed through an artistic lens. The exhibition will focus specifically on the period between 1990s to the present day, and through the lens of artistic practices will draw parallels between Ireland’s complex political history with those of our European counterparts that have had similar trajectories in transitioning from post-conflict into democratic states of peace and stability.

Within peace and conflict research, the study of peace has received far less scholarly attention than the study of war and violence. Moreover, among the studies that pay particular attention to peace, a negative peace conception, which equates peace with the absence of direct violence between formerly warring parties, has generally dominated. Consequently, peace itself is under conceptualised. 

The period from 1989 to the present day has been marked by significant political and social changes in Ireland, particularly in the context of the conflict in the North of Ireland and the subsequent peace process. This project seeks to reflect on these changes through the lens of artistic practice and cultural expression, situating Ireland’s experience within a broader international context. By examining how free expression, identity management, and cultural practices have evolved in post-conflict societies, this project will offer insights into the role of art in peacebuilding and democratic development.

The IMMA Collection will form a central part of the exhibition with key works from Frances Hegarty, Willie Doherty, Cathy Wilkes, Alastair MacLennan and Sandra Johnston. The Dwell Here residency programme at IMMA will also provide a focus with artists such as Amanda Dunsmore.

Anthropoware V is the final in a series of kinetic sculptures exploring the symbiotic relationship between humans and nature. The user is invited to spin the sculpture and consider the theme of this work whilst engaging their hands in mindful activity similar to the artist’s hands working methodically and meditatively. The piece highlights the elements that allowed it to exist: bezel-set chalcopyrite (copper ore) shows us the origin of the copper whilst the deer antler pays tribute to the original tools that initiated these anticlastic metal forms in the Iron Age.

Location: Collins Barracks, Benburb St,Dublin 7, D07 XKV4.