The Artefacts Project
Lorcan Walshe’s involvement with the art of ancient Ireland began as a search for artistic roots…
Through his choice of subject matter Lorcan has raised a number of important issues that are of concern to the artist and art-historian alike. A search for roots is a starting point, that leads quickly to other issues such as the status of the art object, transference, empowerment, significance, identity, transcendence, relevance, patronage, and the relationship between the ancient and the modern.
Dr. Eamonn P. Kelly, Keeper of Irish Antiquities, National Museum of Ireland.
These paintings and drawings respond to ancient Irish artefacts -croziers, bells, shrines - held in the National Museum of Ireland. It is a reconnection with Ireland’s indigenous visual culture by means of contemporary painting and drawing. Works from this series have been exhibited at the National Museum and the Hunt Museum in Limerick.
Clonmacnoise Bell & Gartan Bell each 76x76cm oil on canvas The Artefacts Project at The National Museum of Ireland 2007/8 and The Hunt Museum Limerick 2022
Lorcan Walshe Studio 2022
During my time at the National College of Art, Dublin, in the 1970s, half the painting department staff were English. I often found myself wishing that Ireland possessed a painting tradition comparable to those of England, France, or Italy - it felt as though we were borrowing from other cultures rather than drawing from our own heritage.
One day, an English tutor made a comment that stayed with me: "The Irish are a visually illiterate race." The remark unsettled me deeply. I had a book on Celtic art at home, which prompted me to begin visiting the National Museum to examine Irish artifacts firsthand. Through this exploration, I discovered that pre-colonial Ireland was anything but visually illiterate.
What I found challenged everything I had been led to believe about our artistic heritage. The intricate metalwork, illuminated manuscripts, stone carvings, and decorative arts revealed a civilization of extraordinary visual sophistication - one that had been overlooked or dismissed in our contemporary art education.
Many years later, in 1997, I began to spend three months every year making drawings at the National Museum and then working from these studies in my studio. Gradually a series of works, that connected with Ireland’s pre-colonial culture, began to emerge. This work continues as an ongoing project.
Shrine of the Miosach 168x183 cm oil on canvas (Hunt Museum Artefacts Project exhibition 2023)
Three 8th Century Bells pencils on Fabriano paper each 84x59cm (Artefacts Project at the Hunt Museum)
River Lane Crozier 84x59cm pencils on paper (collection Hunt Museum)
Crozier with Grey Background I 168x106cm oil on canvas
Lorcan Walshe Studio 2006
Clonmacnoise Crozier Study 84x59cm pencils on paper
Shrine Drawings - The Artefacts Project at the Hunt Museum
Shrine of the Miosach (detail) pencils on paper
Shrine of the Miosach 24 x28 oil on copper
Lorcan Walshe studio 2025