Artwork

View of Saint Doulough's, Raheny

View of Saint Doulough's, Raheny, by Nathaniel Hone the Younger, oil, 1881
View of Saint Doulough's, Raheny, by Nathaniel Hone the Younger, oil, 1881

View of Saint Doulough's, Raheny is an oil painting by Nathaniel Hone the Younger. It dates from 1881 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland.

About this work

Overview

Created circa 1881, *View of Saint Doulough's, Raheny* is an oil painting by Irish artist Nathaniel Hone the Younger, a descendant of the earlier Nathaniel Hone. The work is part of the National Gallery of Ireland’s collection and depicts a quiet rural scene centered on a stone church with a prominent tower.

Subject & Meaning

The composition presents a modest stone church with a tall spire and an adjoining smaller structure, set against a cloudy sky. In the foreground, two figures—one holding a child—stand beside the building, gazing at a group of birds on the ground, suggesting a moment of everyday contemplation and the gentle rhythm of parish life.

Technique & Style

Executed in oil on canvas, the painting employs a restrained palette of muted greys and earth tones, emphasizing the overcast atmosphere. Light is softened across the scene, creating subtle contrasts that model the stone architecture and the figures without dramatic chiaroscuro, lending the work a calm, measured tone.

History & Provenance

The piece entered the National Gallery of Ireland’s holdings after being acquired from a private collection, though the exact date of acquisition is not recorded in the available sources. It remains one of the few surviving examples of Hone the Younger’s late‑19th‑century landscape work.

Artist & collection

Portrait of Nathaniel Hone the Younger

Artist

Nathaniel Hone the Younger

Nathaniel Hone the Younger (26 October 1831 – 14 October 1917) was an Irish painter, the great-grand-nephew of the painter Nathaniel Hone.