THURSDAY 12th MARCH, 2pm to 3pm
Free, Online Art history talk: Rouen’s artistic heritage: from Monasteries to Monet
This one-hour, richly-illustrated, online lecture focuses on the glorious art and architecture of Normandy, and particularly of its splendid, historic capital, Rouen. We will highlight some of the treasures we will visit on our upcoming tour to France in May – although please note this talk is free and entirely open to all, with no commitments expected or sought
(meaning everyone is very welcome, whether coming to Rouen or not). During the talk, you’ll seeworld-class French Gothic architecture in Rouen itself (Normandy’s ancient, highly picturesque capital) and look at three of the medieval monasteries along the nearby Seine valley. We’ll then look at some of the artistic treasures of Rouen’s excellent Musée des Beaux Arts. Here we’ll discuss works by Caravaggio, by Rubens, Paulo Veronese, as well as French masters from the French Renaissance onward, up to Paul Delaroche, Ingres, Delacroix, Pissarro and Monet.
This should be a fun and interesting talk.
Join us if you can. Places are free, but must be booked in advance please.
Simply use this link if you would like to register for the free talk
(Please ensure you fill out your email correctly: otherwise we cannot send you the link) and please register by 12pm on Tuesday 10th March at the latest.
WEDNESDAY 18th MARCH, starting at 11.15am sharp
Live, in-person tour of French Art at the National Gallery of Ireland, led by Arran Henderson.
MEET BY 11.15am sharp,
at the old, MERRION Square entrance foyer (of the NGI)
Small-group tour: places limited to 15 persons max.
Following the success of the recent, 8-part, online lecture series “The Art of France” – in Jan and Feb 2026 – we return to the National Gallery of Ireland, for the first live, in-person art tour of 2026.
On this enjoyable, highly educational tour, we shall look at some key, selected paintings by French artists created from the 1600s to the late-1800s.
Featured artists include legendary French painters from the 17th century, such as Nicolas Poussin and Simon Vouet.
Then we shall discuss a fascinating work by that complex giant of late 18th to early 19th century French Art, Jacques-Louis David and will touch on the impact of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era on French Art, as well as the huge, central role played by the Academy and the annual Salon within the French art tradition (including the annual “Rome prize” – the Prix de Rome).
We shall also look at the fascinating story behind a stunning painting, of a woman and her two daughters, a work by perhaps the greatest of France’s long, rich tradition of portrait painters. And throughout the entire tour, we will – needless to say – discuss subject matter, subjects, meaning and symbolism, within the artworks, as well as talking French history, politics and patronage.
In the latter stages we will look at later 19th century French artists like Claude Monet, and time-allowing, we may even conclude by looking at some Irish artists of the late 19th and early 20th century (like Lavery, Leech, Orpen and Roderick O’Conor) who all lived, traveled and painted in Brittany, Normandy, and around Paris, to discuss some of the themes and lessons that they absorbed from French Art.
Places strictly limited to 15 guests. Tickets €24.50.
To join and reserve your place on this art tour please press here.
Important Note: meet your guide Arran, by 11.15am on the day, inside the Merrion Sq entrance foyer.
(Not the Clare Street foyer, please)
THURSDAY, 26th MARCH, 11am
an expert tour within Christ Church Cathedral.
One thousand years of history, architecture, and sculpture.
This is a special, one-off treat we have organised with some of the experts and custodians of Christ Church Cathedral.
The Cathedral was established by Sitric, the Viking (or Hiberno-Norse) king of Dublin around the year 1027 and 1028, a time that included his pilgrimage to Rome, and meeting the medieval Pope, as Dublin’s medieval Viking kingdom finally, and belatedly embraced Christianity.
Since then the cathedral, later rebuilt by Strongbow and the medieval Anglo-Normans, has been at the very centre of Dublin’s political and ecclesiastical life.
This very central status is reflected in both the detailed history of the cathedral, and in many of its surviving material, artifacts and sculptures.
Please meet your guide Arran OUTSIDE the main entrance (south door) of the cathedral, by 11am latest, please.
We will briefly discuss the exterior of the cathedral (moving around slightly, on the exterior) for about 10 minutes before we enter. This introduction will give you some useful basic information on the structure, and age, of different parts of the cathedral, in a way that will help make sense of the information you learn inside, during the tour.
The longer, interior part of the tour starts at 11.15am, sharp, as soon as we enter the cathedral.
I have organized a group ticket for us all, and have also secured the services of an expert, to give us quite an elevated tour, and to give us an update on the latest scholarship, especially on Christ Church’s collection of commemorative sculpture, a collection that spans almost 800 years of Irish and Dublin history.
We are very lucky to have the art historian Dr. Ruth Kenny to lead us on our tour. Her tour will include an update on recent research conducted at the cathedral, including the most recent scholarship on the medieval, Renaissance and early modern-era sculptures there.
Places strictly limited to 23 guests Maximum.
Tickets €23.50.
To join and reserve your place on our Christ Church tour, please press here.
SATURDAY, 28th MARCH, 11.15am
Planners and Professors
(Earlsfort Terrace, Adelaide Rd, Harcourt Terrace and Hatch St).
Meet outside the Unitarian Church, On Saint Stephen’s Green, by 11.10am latest please.
This is an architectural and historical walking tour for real lovers and connoisseurs of Dublin.
It travels the South side of the Green; features sections of Leeson St Lower and Hatch Street; Adelaide Road and also takes in two very famous Dublin terraces: Harcourt and Earlsfort.
All along our route we’ll view and discuss a terrific diversity of history and of buildings. These include several fascinating churches; a handsome Edwardian hospital; a synagogue (with Byzantine flourishes) some super private houses; and highly significant university, school and college buildings. We will also view Dublin’s only proper planned Regency terrace.
We only run this tour once, or at most two times each year. But we love it!
Throughout the whole route of the tour we will see how the legacy of healthcare provision, religious worship, the law, commerce and higher education all helped to shape this really remarkable area of Dublin, over the last two hundred and fifty years.
Ticket, including audio equipment, for easy hearing, €22.50 pp.
To join our “Planners and Professors” tour, on Saturday 28th March,
please grab your ticket here.
Other news: our overseas trip to Rouen and Normandy
We have four places left for our upcoming trip to Rouen and Normandy,
which is going to be a real treat.
Everyone is welcome.
These tours tend to be very convivial, as well as hugely enjoyable and educational. You can see more details on the itineraries, inclusions, price, and on how to reserve one of the remaining spots, here.
