In Ireland, the name ‘Markievicz’ immediately conjures the figure of Constance Markievicz, Irish revolutionary heroine. For the first time, this exhibition explores the artistic life and work of her Polish husband, Casimir Markievicz – painter, playwright, and larger-than-life personality – and his place in Dublin’s bohemian circles on the eve of the Revolution.

Casimir’s contemporaries included W.B. Yeats, George Russell (AE), William Orpen, Hugh Lane, and Beatrice Elvery: this exhibition offers rarely-seen depictions of, and by, these luminaries of the Irish Revival.

Over 80 artworks and artefacts presented in Dublin Castle’s State Apartment Galleries have been loaned from major state collections including the National Gallery of Ireland, National Library of Ireland, National Museum of Ireland, Hugh Lane Gallery, Crawford Gallery, The Model in Sligo, and the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland; as well as from private lenders including Lissadell House, United Arts Club, Sir Josslyn Gore-Booth, and the family of Irish radical Thomas MacDonagh.

The exhibition also explores links between Ireland, Poland, and Ukraine (where Casimir’s family lived). Displayed in the galleries are unique photographs of Ukraine’s lands and people taken by Constance, and paintings of its countryside made by both, on special loan from Casimir Markievicz’s relatives in Poland. Many of these have not been seen in Ireland for more than a century.

This project, organised to celebrate Poland’s Presidency of the EU Council, is a joint initiative of the Office of Public Works and the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Dublin.