The Port of Cork Collection

																																																																				George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson, Naval Steam Frigate Moored off Queenstown (with Haulbowline in Background), 1858.
																																																																			

26 February – 28 August 2022

For an event linked to this exhibition, see below.

In November 2021, a major donation of unique maritime artworks was gifted to Crawford Art Gallery by The Port of Cork Company.

This significant collection consists of 17 maritime paintings, a ship’s register (1912) from The Cork Harbour Commissioners referencing both the Titanic and Lusitania , an illuminated address to Charles Stewart Parnell (1846-1891), and a silver Admiralty Oar from 1686.

Now visitors will have the opportunity to encounter a selection of paintings from the Port of Cork collection, including works by George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson (1806-1884), Henry Albert Hartland (1840-1893), Robert Lowe Stopford (1813-1898), and Seán Keating (1889-1977).

Although not attending to certain social or political realities of late nineteenth-century Ireland, these artworks do act as a visual reminder of that time. They also underscore Cork Harbour's links with empire, its international significance for commerce and trade, and ever-present story of migration. Glimpses of half-remembered histories are framed within these heritage views of Cork Harbour. Each artist provides an insight into the Port of Cork's operations, from Atkinson's extraordinary rendering of naval vessels to Hartland and Stopford's depictions of commercial shipping and leisure craft. Perhaps unexpectedly, Keating's elevated View of the Port of Cork draws us into Cork City itself and remembers the busy working quays of recent memory.

Take in panoramic views of Cork Harbour from the late nineteenth century, turn back the clock on locations ranging from Cobh (Queenstown) and Monkstown to Blackrock Castle, and learn of the variety of seagoing vessels, including the famed SS Sirius .

_{Curated by Michael Waldron}

Click here to view The Birdlife of Cork Harbour event.

C lick on the interactive tour below to view the exhibition online.
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