Local artists shortlisted for AIB portrait prize 2026
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Adam Wiercioch Chinatamunnee (Age 10), 'Carlos the Creative Soul'Image 2 of 4
Michelle Boyle, 'Edith's Night Out, a Pint and a Half One'Image 3 of 4
Zoe Frida Wiercioch Chinatamunnee (Age 6), 'This Is Me, Zoe'Image 4 of 4
Gary Sheridan, 'Moments in Between; The Story of My Life' (still image).Artists from Cavan and Monaghan are among those shortlisted for this year’s AIB Portrait Prize and AIB Young Portrait Prize, announced by the National Gallery of Ireland following hundreds of entries.
Virginia, County Cavan artist Michelle Boyle has been shortlisted for the AIB Portrait Prize alongside 25 other artists from across the country. Her selected work, Edith's Night Out, a Pint and a Half One, is among the works competing for this year’s prize.
In the AIB Young Portrait Prize, two siblings from Loch Gowna have also been shortlisted. Six-year-old Zoe Frida Wiercioch Chinatamunnee has been selected with her work This Is Me, Zoe, while 10-year-old Adam Wiercioch Chinatamunnee has been shortlisted with Carlos the Creative Soul.
Meanwhile, Gary Sheridan of Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, has been shortlisted for the AIB Portrait Prize with his video portrait Moments in Between: The Story of My Life.
The AIB Portrait Prize shortlist features a diverse range of work, including painting, video, pastel, mixed media and photography, from artists across the island of Ireland.
The winner will receive a €15,000 cash prize and be commissioned to create a work for the National Portrait Collection, for which they will receive a further €5,000. Two additional awards of €1,500 will also be presented to highly commended works.
The judges for the AIB Portrait Prize 2026 are Dr Brian Fay, artist and lecturer at TU Dublin; Christina Kennedy, Senior Curator and 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 celebrates the artistic talent of young people aged 18 and under. Winners will be selected across four age categories — 6 and under, 7–11, 12–15, and 16–18 — as well as an overall winner.
Category winners will receive a bespoke art box and cash prize, while the overall winner will receive a personalised wooden box containing high-quality art materials and a €500 cash prize. This year’s judges are artist Amanda Coogan, artist Carl Hickey, and Donna Rose, Curator at the National Museum of Ireland.
The shortlisted works from both competitions will go on display in the Portrait Gallery (Room 23) at the National Gallery of Ireland from November 14, 2026, to March 14, 2027. The winners will be announced at a ceremony at the National Gallery of Ireland on December 2, 2026.
The National Gallery of Ireland is partnering with Galway Arts Centre and Limerick City Gallery of Art to bring the exhibitions to audiences around the country. Following their Dublin exhibition, the shows will travel to Galway Arts Centre from April 3 to June 27, 2027, and Limerick City Gallery of Art from July 9 to August 15, 2027.