O'Neil painting for £20,000-plus

European art dealers coming to Dublin to view the Murnaghan Old Masters will be making a detour to the RDS, where an interesting…

European art dealers coming to Dublin to view the Murnaghan Old Masters will be making a detour to the RDS, where an interesting collection of paintings will be auctioned by Loughlin Bowe on October 13th.

The Kilkenny based dealer is expecting considerable interest in the sale, which includes some paintings being sold by the Church to fund a community project. Mr Bowe hasn't released too many details about the sale, except to emphasise that it will be the "most important art auction to take place in Ireland in many years". That remains to be seen but there is at least one good painting on offer - Henry Nelson O'Neil's Home Again, which dates from the 1850s.

Depicting troops returning from quelling the Indian Mutiny, it was painted in response to an earlier work by the artist, Eastward Ho, which showed soldiers setting out to war. The painting carries an estimate of £20,000-£30,000.