book tickets here

Price: €140 early bird (until 16 July); €150 thereafter

Venue: Creative Zone, Boole Library, University College Cork

Times: Monday – Thursday, 18-21 August

Talks: 10:30am-12:30pm

Optional Site Visit: 1:30-2:30pm

Join Art Historian Dr Matthew Whyte as part of Heritage Week 2025 for an immersive summer school which traces the history of Irish art from Early Christianity through to the present day. Over the course of the week, Dr Whyte will bring participants through the major developments in visual art in Ireland through a series of lectures, participatory discussions, and local site visits. Participants will gain an in-depth understanding of how visual art has shaped Irish culture and identity historically as well as an appreciation of the contemporary art landscape both locally and nationally. This is a unique opportunity to join fellow art enthusiasts and immerse yourself in our rich visual and cultural history.

Day 1, Monday 18 Aug:  Monastic Ireland

In this introduction to the summer school, we briefly discuss the role that visual culture plays in our understanding of history. This will be followed by an in-depth talk on the history of Monastic Ireland, examining the visual forms associated with sites such as the Abbey of Kells, exploring how trade and conquest during the Viking raids produced patterns of visual exchange with areas such as Iona. We will interpret the visual forms of The Book of Kells to understand how faith and aesthetics intertwined, and we will also explore the development of a native symbolic mythology through the famous yet mysterious Sheela na Gig sculptures. Today’s lecture will include an artist talk from multi award-winning Cork-based visual artist Lara Quinn, whose powerful work incorporates a sophisticated art historical lens and mythological sources within arresting imagery of feminine archetypes.

Afternoon Site Visit: Cork Public Museum

Day 2, Tuesday 19 Aug: Ireland in the Enlightenment

We delve into the most prosperous period for Irish Art since the monastic period, turning our attention to the Age of Enlightenment in the long nineteenth century. This saw a dramatic surge in the development of visual art and literature throughout Europe. This was equally true in Ireland; still a part of the British Empire, Irish artists nonetheless drew on the prevailing Neoclassicism and Romanticism to create a distinctly Irish identity. We will discuss artists including John Hogan and Daniel Maclise, also exploring the impact that classical sculpture and broader European visual developments had through the development of the Cork School of Art and the National Collection. 

Afternoon Site Visit: St Finbarr’s Cathedral

Day 3, Wednesday 20 August: Irish Modernism

Modernity brought about an increasingly integrated and globalised world through industrial and technological developments. Alongside these developments, visual artists strove to develop new ways in which a radically shifting world could be visualised. With these new phenomena in mind, we will explore how artists in Ireland developed a distinctly Irish modernism, both through travel and cultural exchange with our ever-more accessible European neighbours, and in response to the specific issues that faced Irish identity at the turn of the twentieth century.

Afternoon Site Visit: The Honan Chapel

Day 4, Thursday 21 August: Contemporary Art in Ireland

We finish our journey through the history of Irish art by turning our attention to the here and now. In the present day, Irish artists are beset with the question that faces artists the world over – what does it feel like to be alive today? In the twenty-first century, this means a melting pot of cultures, media, visual forms, and meanings. Contemporary Irish art represents this diversity – in today’s lecture, we survey some of the most prominent Irish contemporary artists, exploring how their practice advances both visual culture and the most pressing issues that face us in the present climate. 

Afternoon Site Visit: Sample-Studios Gallery, The Lord Mayor’s Pavilion

About Dr matthew whyte

Dr Matthew Whyte is an art historian, lecturer, and arts manager. He received his PhD in History of Art in University College Cork in 2023 with a thesis entitled ‘Archaism & Reform in Michelangelo’s Early Sculpture’. He is Assistant lecturer in History of Art at UCC, where he has lectured since 2014, and has worked extensively with Crawford Art Gallery, Adult Continuing Education at UCC, and Lindblad Expeditions/National Geographic as a Field Staff Lecturer. Dr Whyte is currently Development & Communications Coordinator with Sample-Studios, one of Ireland’s largest artist studios, where he contributes to the strategic development of the organisation.