FLASHBACK: Take a look at rare 17th Century views of Kilkenny City

Have you seen these rare scenes of Kilkenny, drawn in the 1600s before?

The drawings are by Francis Place, whose ink and graphite drawings first went on display in the National Gallery in 2021.

Francis Place (1647–1728), visited Ireland in 1698, and while he was here drew unique scenes in Drogheda, Dublin, Kilkenny and Waterford.

Place’s views are the earliest known depictions of Drogheda, Dublin, Kilkenny, and Waterford within the national collection.

This fine collection of early drawings, offering a glimpse of late 17th Century Ireland, was purchased almost 50 years ago through the Gallery’s Shaw fund.

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Francis Place was an English gentleman who trained in law but left that career when he left London during an outbreak of plague.

He had already discovered a gift for drawing and engraving and went on to try oil painting, stoneware pottery glazing and manufacturing porcelain.

Although the National Gallery is currently closed to the public, a variety of online programmes ensure viewers can engage with the cancelled exhibition ‘Turner & Place: Landscapes in Light and Detail’ from their homes.

For 120 years, in the month of January, the annual exhibition of Turner watercolours delighted the Gallery’s visitors.