This first volume cataloguing the Irish painters in the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin covers more than 220 paintings from the late 17th century to the early 19th century, including figures such as George Barret, James Barry, Hugh Douglas Hamilton, William Hickey, Nathaniel Hone, Charles Jervas, James Latham, Thomas Roberts and Martin Archer Shee. It contains much new, unpublished information, providing substantial biographies and detailed consideration of provenance, condition, subject-matter and attribution; with indices and bibliography.
 
All the paintings are illustrated in excellent colour reproductions. These paintings are not only of intrinsic interest but provide important insights into the social, political, cultural, and environmental history of 18th-century Ireland.