Edward Hayes, Irish, 1797-1864
Title: The Choir Doorway, Athassel Priory, County Tipperary, from the Nave
Date: c.1861
Medium: Watercolour on paper
Dimensions:
46.4 x 56 cm
Signed: lower right: Edwd. Hayes R.H.A.
(Irish Watercolours and Drawings in the National Gallery of Ireland, Adrian Le Harivel, ed., 1991)
Credit Line: Presented, Miss Geoghegan, 1923
Object Number: NGI.2728
DescriptionEdward Hayes studied at the Dublin Society's Schools, and was taught drawing by J.S. Alpenny (1787-1858). He was elected an Associate of the RHA in 1856, and became a full member in 1861. This scene is a good example of Hayes's later style. It is one of a series of views he produced of historical sites in County Tipperary, which reflect the ongoing public interest in antiquarian subjects. Depicted here is the ornate choir doorway of St. Edmund's priory, an Augustinian foundation, located on the west bank of the River Suir. The priory was attacked and burnt in 1447, leaving the nave roofless. It is now a National Monument in the care of the State.