Welcome to Down County Museum

There are currently 235 works of art in the museum collection. As with the rest of the collection, works of art relate specifically to County Down. The majority are topographical paintings but we have been building up our portrait collection, of people closely associated with County Down. There are some works in textiles and mixed media, as well as a few sculptural pieces.

The Mall Downpatrick by Thomas Semple - oil painting 1863

More than half of these works of art have been most generously given by the community Among these have been Helen Anderson's painting of the harbour at Annalong, R. Creswell Boak's etching of Newcastle and R B Morrison's drawing of Florence Wilson (who wrote the poem "The Man from God knows where"). The Friends of the Museum have also purchased paintings such as "Silent Valley" by Jim Manley and "Mixed farm, Slievena Gran" by Tom Carr. Major purchases have been assisted by grants from the Esme Mitchell Trust, the Heritage Lottery Fund, the National Art Collections Fund and the Northern Ireland Museums Council. These have included the portrait of Lady Elizabeth Southwell and most recently an oil sketch by Sir John Lavery, of Priscilla, Countess Annesley

Portrait in oil, John Waring Maxwell by an unknown artist

Portrait in oil, Lady Elizabeth Southwell, nee Cromwell (1674-1709)

Not all of these works will necessarily be on view all the time. Many are incorporated into our temporary exhibitions or are hung around the building where space and other considerations permit. Meanwhile, if you would like further information or are interested in seeing paintings which are not on display, please contact the Keeper of Collections, Lesley Simpson or Assistant Keeper, Madeleine McAllister.

St Patrick's Breastplate by Oisin Kelly