From hundreds of entries, the shortlists for this year’s AIB Portrait Prize and AIB Young Portrait Prize have been announced by the National Gallery of Ireland.
Enda Burke, an artist from Galway City, has been shortlisted for the AIB Portrait Prize alongisde 25 other artists from across the country with his photograph Dad and Elvis.
The AIB Portrait Prize shortlist includes paintings, video, pastel, mixed media and photography by artists from across the country.
The winner of the AIB Portrait Prize will receive a cash prize of €15,000 and will be commissioned to create a work for the National Portrait Collection, for which they will be awarded a further €5,000. Two additional awards of €1,500 will be given to highly commended works.
Judges for the AIB Portrait Prize 2026 are Dr Brian Fay, artist and lecturer at TU Dublin; Christina Kennedy, Senior Curator, Head of Collections at the Irish Museum of Modern Art; and Dr Joseph McBrinn, Art Historian and Lecturer at Belfast School of Art.
The AIB Young Portrait Prize showcases the artistic talent of young people aged eighteen and under. Winners in each of the four categories (6 and under, 7–11, 12–15, and 16–18) as well as an overall winner, will be selected from the shortlist.
Category winners will receive a bespoke art box and a cash prize. The overall competition winner will be awarded a personalised wooden box of high-quality art materials and a cash prize of €500.
This year’s AIB Young Portrait Prize judges are Amanda Coogan, artist; Carl Hickey, artist; and Donna Rose, Curator at the National Museum of Ireland.
Dr Caroline Campbell, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland, said, “We are proud to be working with AIB on the annual AIB Portrait Prize and AIB Young Portrait Prize again in 2026.”
“Watching entries arrive is a highlight of our year, and the shortlist this year demonstrates an incredible breadth of Irish artistic talent. We look forward to the exhibitions later this year at the Gallery and next year in the Galway Arts Centre and the Limerick City Gallery of Art.”
The exhibition of the shortlisted portraits in both competitions will be on display in the Portrait Gallery (Room 23) at the National Gallery of Ireland from 14 November 2026 – 14 March 2027. The winners of the Prizes will be announced at a ceremony held in the National Gallery of Ireland on 2 December 2026.
The Gallery is partnering with Galway Arts Centre and Limerick City Gallery of Art to present the AIB Portrait Prize and AIB Young Portrait Prize 2026 after they have finished displaying in Dublin.
Following their display at the National Gallery of Ireland, the exhibitions will travel to Galway Arts Centre from April 3 to June 27 next year, and to Limerick City Gallery of Art from July 9 to August 15.
Shortlisted artists for the AIB Portrait Prize 2026 at the National Gallery of Ireland:
- Aideen Barry (Silvermines, Co. Tipperary), The Creator of Birds, After Varo, 2025, photograph
- Alannah Henry (Bray, Co. Wicklow), Sa Samhradh, photograph
- Beverley Healy (Belfast, Co. Antrim), The Known and the Unknown (Elsa and Carlton), egg tempera and pencil on panel
- Breda Kenny (Kildangan, Monasterevin, Co. Kildare), Making a Splash, Pastel on board
- David Goldberg (Co. Dublin), Listening, oil on canvas on board
- David Killeen (Raheny, Co. Dublin), Cricky Sea, Sandycove, December 2025, photograph
- Diego Fabro (Co. Dublin), Reverie 26 “Venetia”, photograph
- Domnick Sorace (Co. Dublin), Self-Extended, artist’s blood, distilled water, hollow glass spheres and resin
- Elaine Adams (Kilmainham, Co. Dublin), Candid, photograph
- Emma Coady (Rush, Co. Dublin), There’s an Artist in My Kitchen, oil on canvas
- Enda Burke (Galway City), Dad and Elvis, photograph
- Evan Dow (Co. Dublin), Marie Mullen, oil on steel
- Evanna Devine (Belfast, Co. Antrim), Frank Flannelly, Farmer from Easkey, Co. Sligo. 6 April, 2026, photograph
- Gary Sheridan (Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan), Moments in Between: The Story of My Life, video
- Ivy Borden (Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare), Oikos Logia (I), tapestry woven on cotton with hand-spun wool, dyed with nettle, dock leaf and madder root and photograph
- Joe Caslin (Roscommon, Co. Roscommon), Seen, pencil and digital drawing on paper
- Jonathan Dickson (Celbridge, Co. Kildare), Theo (Almost) Hiding Behind a Tree in the Phoenix Park., oil on canvas
- Kathy Tynan (Co. Dublin), Sunday Morning, oil on canvas
- Marcel Vidal (Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny), Allergy, oil on linen
- Mark Fisher (Stradbally, Co. Laois), Belly Boy, acrylic on canvas
- Mary Woods (Rathmore, Co. Kerry), Generation Game, acrylic on canvas
- Merve Sagit (Walkinstown, Co. Dublin), Ritual Study I, photograph
- Michelle Boyle (Virginia, Co. Cavan), Edith’s Night Out, a Pint and a Half One, acrylic on hardboard
- Paul MacCormaic (Kilbarrack, Co. Dublin), Sister Stan in the Office of the Sanctuary, acrylic and oil on canvas
- Rebecca Kehoe (North Strand, Co. Dublin), D A M O C L E S, graphite and polychromos pencil on paper
- Rowan Williams Huber (Kinsale, Co. Cork), Rico, photograph
Shortlisted artists for the AIB Young Portrait Prize 2026 at the National Gallery of Ireland:
- Ziiti DiMaio, Age 5 (Clongriffin, Co. Dublin), Mama, photograph
- Tessa Brennan, Age 6 (Tullamore, Co. Offaly), Gaga Dom, pen on paper
- Victoria Muradova, Age 6 (Sandyford, Co. Dublin), The Butterfly Chose Me, paint and pencils on paper
- Fiadh O’Neill, Age 6 (Ballinteer, Co. Dublin), Swimming in the Sea, paint, pencil, dried flowers and gems on paper
- Zoe Frida Wiercioch Chinatamunnee, Age 6 (Loch Gowna, Co. Cavan), This Is Me, Zoe, acrylic on paper
- Elizaveta Egoshina, Age 9 (Stepaside, Co. Dublin), Sunny Days in Mount Congreve Gardens, watercolour and pencil on paper
- Robin Corrigan, Age 10 (Rathmines, Co. Dublin), Me, acrylic on paper
- Adam Wiercioch Chinatamunnee, Age 10 (Loch Gowna, Co. Cavan), Carlos the Creative Soul, clay and acrylic on a wooden base
- Michael Ryan, Age 11 (Ennis, Co. Clare), My Grandad’s Smile, oil on canvas
- Emily Yilin Situ, Age 11 (Stillorgan, Dublin), Kindness in a Note, oil pastel on paper
- Charlotte Leahy, Age 14 (Rathgar, Co. Dublin), Girl with a Yellow Hat, acrylic on paper
- Silke Semmler Marin, Age 14 (Donnycarney, Co. Dublin), Radiant Seasons, oil on canvas
- Eve Harrigan, Age 15 (Shannon, Co. Clare), You Belong Here, oil and pencil on paper
- Bentley O’Balogun, Age 15 (Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim), Oldest Trick in the Book, oil on canvas
- Haomiao Xu, Age 15 (Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin), Snatches of Springtime, gouache and pencil on canvas
- Eva Boyle, Age 16 (Carryduff, Co. Down), Do I Know You Yet, acrylic on canvas
- Isla Case, Age 16 (Donard, Co. Wicklow), Immersed, oil on canvas
- Aoibhinn McDermott, Age 17 (Malin Head, Co. Donegal), What I’m Really Reaching For, video
- Aoife Newman, Age 17 (Carrigtwohill, Co. Cork), Come Out, We’re At the Curb, acrylic paint on canvas
- Ruaidhrí Condon, Age 18 (Dún Laoghaire, Dublin), Distractions, oil on canvas
