Georgian Ireland

Spanning 1714 to 1830, the Georgian Period in Ireland is characterised by significant urban development, advances in architecture and design, and a flourishing of the visual arts. This exhibition is displayed within two domestic scale rooms, which date to 1724 and once functioned as part of the old Custom House of Cork.

Featured in GEORGIAN IRELAND are pieces of period furniture, books, silver, glass, Chinese porcelain, and fine examples of society portraiture, Irish landscapes, and genre scenes, many of which are drawn from the Cooper Penrose Collection.

Cooper Penrose (1736-1815) was a Quaker ‘merchant prince’ who, with interests in timber and property, benefited greatly from the opportunities available during the later Georgian Period. Together with his brother, the Penrose family established Cork and Waterford Glass. In addition, he assembled a renowned art collection in Cork, which once included a portrait by the celebrated French artist Jacques-Louis David (now in the Timken Museum of Art, San Diego).

Come face-to-face with Elizabeth 'Bessie' Penrose (1774-1862), the Venerable Honora 'Nano' Nagle (1718-1784), the parents of revolutionary Robert Emmet (1778-1803), and members of the Dennis and Newenham families.

Along with John Butts’ iconic View of Cork from Audley Place (c.1750), visitors will have the opportunity to encounter the work of notable Irish artists of the period, including Charles Forrest, Nathaniel Grogan, Thomas Pope-Stevens, and Martin Archer Shee, silverware by Jonathan Buck and John Power, and works after Joshua Reynolds and by the circle of Allan Ramsay.