A PAINTING depicting St Patrick’s Day festivities in Co Dublin more than 150 years ago has been unveiled by the National Gallery of Ireland as part of its celebrations of the national holiday.
The piece by Scottish artist Erskine Nicol, who died in 1904, is called The 16th, 17th (St Patrick’s Day) and 18th March. The painting depicts people dancing, playing music, telling stories and hawking in front of St Doulagh’s Church in Malahide.
It was recently acquired by the National Gallery from the Gorry Gallery in Dublin for €130,000.
Nicol worked as an art teacher in Dublin for four years and later established a studio on Clonave Island on Lough Derravaragh in Co Westmeath in 1862.
Raymond Keaveney, director of the National Gallery, said the piece was a suitable acquisition given the time of year and that it highlights how St Patrick’s Day has always been a much-celebrated occasion.
“I think it is the only painting of this scale and this quality that represents St Patrick’s Day,” Mr Keaveney said. “It is called The 16th, 17th (St Patrick’s Day) and 18th March, which shows it was a St Patrick’s festival and that’s what we have again now. We’re going back to that tradition.”
The painting will be a centrepiece of the National Gallery’s St Patrick’s Day celebrations.
Dr Sílghe Bhreathnach-Lynch, the gallery’s curator of Irish art, will give a talk on the work at 3pm on Sunday. On St Patrick’s Day, there will be a guided tour of the gallery’s Irish collection, followed by an RTÉ Cór na nÓg concert.
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