Irish Art

Court cairns: consist of a stone forecourt area, with chambers used for burials, covered with a long cairn. They were built from c4000 BC and are found throughout Ireland. Court cairns: consist of a stone forecourt area, with chambers used for burials, covered with a long cairn. They were built from c4000 BC and are found throughout Ireland. Pre-Christian Ireland 7000 –2000 B.C.

Dolmen The word Dolmen means stone table in Breton. Most were built around 2000 BC along Ireland's East Coast. The word Dolmen means stone table in Breton. Most were built around 2000 BC along Ireland's East Coast. The most obvious of early Stone Age tombs are dolmen.A large slab top three or more large stones. They can weigh up to 100 tons. It was an enormous feat of engineering. There are more than 1400 in Ireland. The most obvious of early Stone Age tombs are dolmen.A large slab top three or more large stones. They can weigh up to 100 tons. It was an enormous feat of engineering. There are more than 1400 in Ireland. They are mentioned in Irish legends too. Diarmuid and Gráinne allegedly slept under one when they eloped. They are mentioned in Irish legends too. Diarmuid and Gráinne allegedly slept under one when they eloped.

Newgrange Newgrange, built around 3,200 BC and recently restored, is a great circular mound of earth and stone 250 feet in diameter encircled by a ring of standing stones. The interior is solid except for a single stone- lined and -capped passage 62 feet long and 3 feet wide which terminates close to the centre of the mound in main chamber with a corbelled vault 20 feet high and three recessed chambers. Newgrange, built around 3,200 BC and recently restored, is a great circular mound of earth and stone 250 feet in diameter encircled by a ring of standing stones. The interior is solid except for a single stone- lined and -capped passage 62 feet long and 3 feet wide which terminates close to the centre of the mound in main chamber with a corbelled vault 20 feet high and three recessed chambers.

The entrance, in front of which is a massive curbstone (10 feet long, 4 feet high) carved with spirals and lozenges, incoporates a roof box which allows the sun, at sunrise on the morning of the winter solstice on December 21, to penetrate the full length of the interior passage all the way to the main chamber. A similar carefully calculated phenomenon is also found at Abu Simbel in Egypt. The entrance, in front of which is a massive curbstone (10 feet long, 4 feet high) carved with spirals and lozenges, incoporates a roof box which allows the sun, at sunrise on the morning of the winter solstice on December 21, to penetrate the full length of the interior passage all the way to the main chamber. A similar carefully calculated phenomenon is also found at Abu Simbel in Egypt.Abu SimbelAbu Simbel

Bronze Age 2000 – 500 B.C.

Iron Age 500B.C – A.D. 400 Broighter Collar Broighter Boat

Early Christian Period 5 th & 6 th Centuries Skellig Kerry Coast

Gallarus Oratory Co. Kerry

Carandonagh Cross Co. Donegal Stone Carving Fahan Mura Slab

High Christian Period 7 th & 8 th Century North Cross Aheny Cross of Moone Co. Kildare

Ardagh Chalice

Tara Brooch

Viking Invasions 9 th & 10 th Centuries

Round Tower

Muirdeach’s Cross Monasterboice The finest of the high crosses. Muirdeach’s Cross Monasterboice The finest of the high crosses.

Manuscripts The Book of Kells Manuscripts The Book of Kells

The Medieval period 11 th & 12 th Centuries

Cross of Cong

Eighteenth Century Irish Georgian Period

James Barry Neoclassical Painter

Walter Osbourne

Influenced by French Plein-air Painting

William Leech

Paul Henry

Jack Butler Yates Son of John Butler Yates and brother of poet W.B.Yeats Jack Butler Yates Son of John Butler Yates and brother of poet W.B.Yeats

Louis Le Brocquy