Michael Waldron

A great day out of the office assisting my colleague with routine condition checks of artworks on loan from @crawfordartgallery.bsky.social to Doneraile Court. It’s a true gem of a place and doubly exciting to see ‘old friends’ and encounter fragments from the lost Bowen’s Court.

There’s a beacon of love in West Cork this summer!

In fact, there are only six weeks left to visit that beautiful beacon, an exhibition called Grá that features more than 50 artworks from the collection.

So why not plan your visit to Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre, Skibbereen before 20 September!

#TodayInQueerHistory
August 11 (117)
Hadrian, the beard-loving wall-builder is proclaimed Emperor of Rome #OTD.

Hadrian is one of the most visible queer figures from the Ancient world, his relationship with Antinous is one of the most documented same-sex relationships from this era.

Also *swoon*

Kinda bananas the amount of people I know IRL who use the likes of ChatGPT for any and all thinking now, without questioning the information or sources at all. Humanity yearns for the days when questions were answered by a haunted board or a horse stomping its hoof.

🐈 Happy #InternationalCatDay from some of our favourite felines 🐈‍⬛

Charles Dickens, Sarah Bernhardt, Ella Fitzgerald, Jack Doyle...

@corkoperahouse.bsky.social has borne witness to so many memorable performers and performances down through the years.

This year is our wonderful neighbour's 170th anniversary so please join us in toasting their continued success!

To mark the 250th anniversary of Daniel O'Connell's birth, we're sharing a close-up detail of Hibernia and Brian Boroimhe (1855) by John Hogan.

The sculptor was among those who 'crowned' The Liberator with a green velvet and gold Milesian cap during his 'monster meeting' at Mullaghmast in 1843.

So beautiful that I was delighted to get @nlireland.bsky.social permission to reproduce Sarah Curran’s map of Ireland on the cover of my @universitypress.cambridge.org book #irishnovel #speirgorm

🗓️ Final Week!

MAINIE JELLETT AND EVIE HONE. The Art of Friendship must close @nationalgalleryirl.bsky.social this Sunday 10 August.

We're delighted to have loaned 5 works to the exhibition, including St Hubert, a small stained-glass piece by Evie Hone.

2025 marks the artist's 70th anniversary.

A photo of Seán Rocks smiling in Dublin Docklands.

We are deeply saddened by the death of Seán Rocks.

Seán brought art and artists into people’s lives with his distinctive voice. He held space for all creative people and is a huge loss to Irish arts and broadcasting.

Our condolences to his family and friends. Ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann.

How to use your National Library

Interested in digging into the Library’s collections? 📚

📆 Thursday, 14 August 11am:
www.nli.ie/exhibitions-...

Join us for this online session introducing the Library as a source for research.

A colourful landscape painting dominated by tones of blue, green, and yellow. A figure walks alongside a river that flow towards the sea. A thatched cottage and purple mountains are in the distance.

Interior photo of a brightly-lit drawing room with paintings hanging on the wall.

🗺️ Where in the world!?

Did you know: River to the Sea (1959) by Norah McGuinness is one of 14 works of Irish art from the collection currently on loan to at Hillsborough Castle.

👉 So why not plan your visit and seek out familiar paintings in the State Drawing Room!

Check venue for visitor info.

‘When I visit other big houses, I am struck by some quality that they all have—not so much isolation as mystery. Each house seems to live its own spell and that is the spell that falls on the visitor from the moment he passes in at the gates.’ Elizabeth Bowen @crawfordartgallery.bsky.social

Such a pleasure to be part of the group who curated the Grá exhibition with @michaelwaldron.bsky.social @crawfordartgallery.bsky.social and Uilinn: West Cork Arts Centre - great fun and queer camaraderie all the way! Check it out if you’re down this way over the coming months:

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the show with your son.

From Skibbereen, with love…

If you’re in the West Cork area this Thursday lunchtime, it would be lovely to see you at Uillinn for a free guided tour of Grá with yours truly. Starts at 1pm. All welcome!

Love is all you need as exhibition of Crawford work opens in Skibbereen The Cork city gallery may be closed, but Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre is hosting some of the best pieces in its collection in an exhibition entitled Grá

Wonderful

www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ar...

🏛️ Continuing our Touring & Sharing journey with the collection, we’re stopping off at Doneraile Court in County Cork!

This outstanding Irish Georgian house is managed by @opwireland.bsky.social and features an exhibition on the celebrated Irish writer Elizabeth Bowen, the subject of this portrait.

It’s 9 years since Éibhear Walshe snapped this pic of me teaching a summer school in the sunshine. I’m returning to UCC in a few days to guest teach on Elizabeth Bowen (likely indoors!) and some of her short stories that he selected. Big shoes to fill, but his steady influence casts a long shadow…

#OnThisDay 15 July 1815 7am Napoleon Bonaparte aboard HMS Bellerophon (a 3rd Rate & 74 guns) & surrendered for his 2nd & final time, having fled Paris.

On deck, he announced in French "I am come to throw myself on the protection of your Prince and your laws."

An ink wash perspective of a partially covered laneway in Cork city.

We are saddened by the passing of William Harrington (1941-2025).

Beginning his art studies in our building in 1955, he went on to illustrate Séamus Murphy's Stone Mad, this year's One City One Book. He is represented in the collection by an ink drawing of Dalton's Avenue (1981), which we cherish.

🎨 Curious where to find works from the collection?

Dublin Castle’s current exhibition, CASIMIR MARKIEVICZ: A Polish Artist in Bohemian Dublin (1903-1913), features this painting by the Polish artist which depicts a thatched cottage near his family’s estate at Żywotówka in present-day Ukraine.

💞 On Saturday, in Skibbereen, we recharged our love batteries with the launch of Grá!

🏳️‍🌈 A partnership between Crawford Art Gallery, Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre, and Salt & Pepper art collective with Toma McCullim, this exhibition celebrates love in all its forms.

💗 Now open until 20 September!

*A different Michael Waldron. I’m a curator in Ireland 🇮🇪

Michael Warren (1950-2025)

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Michael Warren, whose remarkable explorations in sculptural and material form leave an ambitious presence in our shared artistic landscape.

Love this!

🇫🇷 On y va!

Did you know that Evie Hone painted this watercolour in 1947 during a visit to her friend, Albert Gleizes at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence?

It currently features in MAINIE JELLETT AND EVIE HONE. The Art of Friendship, which runs @nationalgalleryirl.bsky.social until 10 August.

We can but dream. I’d really rather it didn’t go back to being the FFG retirement plan.

Embarrassing ancestor goes from a 'bit of a giggle' to an icon Henry, 5th Marquess of Anglesey, scandalised Edwardian society, now his family is reclaiming his legacy.

How embarrassing ancestor went from 'bit of a giggle' to icon

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Feel the love in Skibb’ next Saturday and until September!