Crawford invites families to create memories and lay down traditions with loved ones this festive season. Free to enter, the spacious Gallery is open 7 days a week with a later opening 8pm on Thursday nights, which has now been extended to Friday nights too for the month of December.

We love that families lay down traditions in the Gallery and it is often as children that people are first captivated by Crawford. We hear stories of everything from family excursions and first dates to that first school encounter where people are often hooked for life!” says Marketing & Communications Manager, Dyane Hanrahan. “This year more than ever we feel people will welcome the escape into another world where they can be captivated by Phantoms & Phantasies, step back in time with Rembrandt in Print and be revived in our indoor and outdoor Café. We are also open late Thursdays and most Fridays in December, so it’s a great opportunity to enjoy a relaxed evening out, combined with a trip to the Gallery.

The ever-popular annual exhibition of Harry Clarke’s watercolours and ink drawings returns! PHANTOMS & PHANTASIES presents all 23 of the visionary Irish artist’s works on paper in the collection, ranging from his studies for The Eve of St Agnes window to illustrations for Robert Graves’ “Star-Talk” and Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘Tales of Mystery and Imagination’. To preserve these delicate watercolours and ink drawings, they are brought out for public view only once a year. This exhibition will run from 11 December  until 13 February 2022.

Visitors can also encounter the astonishing work of Rembrandt van Rijn which is now in its final weeks. Rembrandt in Print presents 50 of the Dutch Master’s finest works from the Ashmolean Museum’s world-class collection of over 200 etchings and drypoints.

The Gallery also offers unique Crawford Christmas cards in the charming Bookshop on the Ground Floor, stocked with lots of lovely gift ideas, including a “Tiny Crawford” model-making set to be made at home .

Cork visitors adore the award-winning Crawford Gallery Café, now over 30 years in business and currently offering an alternative dining option in a festive outdoor marquee.

The roots of the Crawford Gallery Café go back to 1986, when its doors were first opened by Mrs. Myrtle Allen and her daughter Fern. That Ballymaloe ethos – taking the very best quality food and cooking it simply but beautifully – continues to underscore the Café in its modern incarnation, with a menu of dishes that are all freshly prepared in-house.

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