Overview
Before planning a visit, know that the building is shut. The Parnell Square building is closed for refurbishment during work linked to Dublin’s new City Library, and the gallery’s visitor information confirms the closure. Check the gallery for a confirmed reopening date before travelling. When open, it is Dublin’s municipal gallery of modern and contemporary art, in Charlemont House on Parnell Square. For now the collection can be explored online and through offsite events (see below).
History
Sir Hugh Lane opened the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art on Harcourt Street on 20 January 1908, the first public gallery in these islands devoted to modern art. Lane drowned aboard the RMS Lusitania in 1915, and his collection became the subject of a long legal fight between Dublin and London. A 1959 compromise rotated the paintings between the two cities; a 1993 agreement fixed 31 of the 39 works permanently in Dublin. The gallery moved to Charlemont House in 1933.
Charlemont House was built around 1763 for James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charlemont – a key political figure who presided over the 1783 Volunteer Convention, a step toward Irish legislative independence. He commissioned Scottish architect Sir William Chambers to design a city residence that doubled as a private museum for his collection of art, books, and antiquities. Chambers delivered a five-bay limestone block set slightly back from Parnell Square, with a central lantern-lit vestibule, a curved Portland-stone staircase, and a long gallery for paintings. Caulfeild’s cultural patronage also extended to the Casino at Marino, another Chambers design. Financial pressure eventually forced the family to sell; in 1870 the Irish government purchased the property for the General Register and Census Offices. When the gallery moved in in 1933, architect Horace O’Rourke converted the rear garden into enfilade galleries while preserving Chambers’ interior character. Gilroy McMahon Architects added a further extension in 2006, and in 2001 the gallery rebuilt Francis Bacon’s London studio on-site.
Collection
Sir Hugh Lane and his supporters founded the gallery in 1908. The collection guide describes the early gifts of European art and later acquisitions, including the Bacon studio and its archive.
- The Lane Bequest – Impressionist works by Manet, Monet, Degas, Pissarro and Morisot, the core of the permanent holdings.
- The Francis Bacon Studio – Bacon’s London studio, dismantled in 1998 and reassembled in Charlemont House. It is currently closed to visitors.
- The Harry Clarke stained-glass room – built around Clarke’s The Eve of Saint Agnes.
- The Sean Scully room – devoted to the abstract painter.
- Contemporary Irish art – including Ailbhe Ní Bhriain and Brian Maguire.
If you can only know one thing about the place, it is the Bacon studio: the actual contents of the room he worked in, dust and all, lifted from London and put back together here. Check the gallery’s notices for when it will be open to visitors again.
Recent and upcoming exhibitions
The gallery has shown work by the painter and stained-glass founder Sarah Purser, by Brian Maguire and by Lawrence Abu Hamdan, among others. With the building closed, there is no programme to see on Parnell Square. The gallery’s website links to the online collection and its current programme. Some works have been shown on loan at the National Gallery of Ireland, so check that venue’s display information before travelling to see a particular painting.
Refurbishment
The closure is linked to the building of a new Dublin City Library on Parnell Square. Check the gallery’s notices for the scope and timing of the works rather than relying on older reports of a reopening date.
While the building is shut, the gallery points visitors to its online collection of images and catalogue entries and to offsite learning and public events around Dublin.
Events
The gallery continues to run offsite talks, screenings and learning events. Check each event’s venue and booking details, as these take place at different sites around Dublin. Weekly concerts, children’s workshops and lectures have been part of the gallery’s programme in the past, so look for current listings and venues on the gallery’s site before you go.
Practical information
Opening hours: the Parnell Square building is closed for refurbishment. Check the gallery for reopening updates.
Website: hughlane.ie
Contact: phone +353 1 222 5550
Getting there: Charlemont House is on the north side of Parnell Square, a short walk from O’Connell Street, the Garden of Remembrance and Trinity College. Check access and transport details with the gallery or the venue before travelling to an offsite event.
Nearby attractions: the Garden of Remembrance sits directly across the square, with the 14 Henrietta Street museum and the Gate Theatre close by.