In celebration of St. Patrick’s day this week, I thought I would share with you one of my hobbies and one of my favourite places ever – art galleries or to be more specific the National Gallery of Ireland.

Before I start talking about the gallery itself, I have to tell you about my love for Ireland. Personally for me, Ireland is not only a place of beauty, a treasure chest of discoveries, but it is home to some of the friendliest people I have ever met.

The National Gallery of Ireland has a special place in my heart because it was the first gallery I had ever been to which actually made me fall in love with art. Living with multiple chronic illnesses I find it hard to switch off and truly relax and divulge myself in actual mindfulness, but the National Gallery made me do just that. It was the first place in the outside world to really make me stop and engage with something other than how unwell I felt, because let’s face it when you are out and about it is hard not to let the pain and fatigue consume you.

I have been to the gallery on three occasions – one of which was to see the Vermeer exhibition – and the most recent visit being after the revamp in 2017 which sadly I was unable to finish seeing all the way through due to time constraints. Unfortunately my health has taken a battering in the years since, but my goal is to go back and see EVERYTHING (although maybe over a few days – to make sure it isn’t too much for my body in one go!).

The Gallery Itself

The National Gallery of Ireland is in Dublin, and is home to Irish and European paintings and sculptures as well as paper prints, drawings, photographs and watercolours. It was founded in 1854 and has over 16,300 artworks.

My favourite pieces (the ones I have seen at some point) include:

• Caravaggio – The Taking of Christ – This painting purely blew me away, so much so I have my own print copy. This painting is a depiction of when Judas betrays Christ, and the figure at the back is thought to be Caravaggio himself. I love the play of dark and light contrasts in this piece and the hidden meanings throughout.

• Johannes Vermeer – Woman Writing a Letter, with her Maid – Vermeer is no doubt, one of my favourite artists and this was only confirmed in my visit to the Vermeer exhibition many moons ago. Again this painting exudes light focusing on the figures of the woman and her maid as well as discarded items on the floor. I love the mystery of this piece as you don’t know who the women is writing too, but can assume it is a love interest.

• George Barret – View of Powerscourt Waterfall – It would be rather rude to talk about an Irish gallery and not mention an Irish artist and scene. This piece focuses on the natural scene of the tallest waterfall in Ireland and is truly beautiful. I love how the power of the waterfall jumps out at you through the trees, yet still makes for a peaceful scene.

• Murillo – The Prodigal Son series – There is actually six paintings in this collection by Murillo which tells the story of the prodigal son. I love this idea of having separate paintings to tell one story and first discovered this on the gallery’s online exhibition. I also love the use of colour in Murillo’s work which I also enjoyed in his ‘The Holy Family’ piece.

• James Arthur O’Connor – A Thunderstorm: The Frightened Wagoner – My final selection is of a thunderstorm scene which is packed with drama. One of my favourite things to examine in art is that of natural scenes and O’Connor has captured this magically. From the heavens opening to the bolt of lightening, the scared horses to the ferocious water under the bridge and the physical feeling that the trees are moving in front of your eyes – this piece catches nature in it’s rawness.

Accessibility in the Gallery

Although at the time of writing this the gallery is closed due to Covid – I thought it would be a great idea to share with you the levels of accessibility at the gallery in case you ever tempted to take a look yourself at some point.

The gallery has a wide range of resources available and has an excellent tool known as the accessibility map which outlines the provisions it makes for visitors with mobility issues, deaf or hard of hearing, blind or have low vision, and visitors with other disabilities. To view the map check out the gallery website.

For people unable to physically attend because of their chronic illnesses, the gallery has many resources online including podcasts, the online collection, online exhibitions and even pieces to practice mindfulness on.

I hope you enjoyed today’s hobby piece and it has been of interest to somebody somewhere. Either way I really enjoyed writing it because not everything is about illness and sometimes it is nice to remember that.