Art where you sleep: Major art and sculpture exhibit at The Marker

From Carrickmacross lace to Connemara marble, Irish craft and design has a strong international reputation, forged from years of innovation and the merging of traditional and contemporary influences.

Enthusiasts of such Irish craft and design will find plenty of examples at the 2026 Irish Design Week, which runs from November 7th-14th, with special exhibitions, conferences, workshops and award ceremonies. Timed to coincide with Ireland’s hosting of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, this year’s event is titled Fáilte Future Europe.

Unmissable events for those keen to understanding the inspiration and output of architects, interior designers, furniture makers and other creatives, include Design Kenmare, in the Co Kerry town from November 13th-15th (designkenmare.com). The Irish Design Excellence Award Exhibition brings together a selection of Irish contemporary design projects from architecture to fashion in the National Design and Craft Gallery in Kilkenny city from today.

Meanwhile, architecture, art and design will also be celebrated at Beyond the Frame, Gormleys art and sculpture exhibition at the Anantara The Marker Hotel in Grand Canal Square, Dublin, until December 6th. Already renowned for bringing international art and sculpture to country house hotels around Ireland, Gormleys fine art auction house will show over 150 works of art in indoor and outdoor spaces of the hotel.

“Anantara The Marker’s architecture and design offers a wonderful setting for these works, allowing visitors to discover them as they move through the hotel,” says James Gormley. The hotel, with its chequerboard facade and large open-plan lobby, was designed by Portuguese architect Manuel Aires Mateus. When it opened, in 2013, it had one of the city’s first panoramic rooftop terraces.

[ Crafted-to-last Norman Cherner chairs among mid-century design treasures at auctionOpens in new window ]

The exhibition – which is open free from 11am-7pm daily – includes work by international artists Andy Warhol, Salvador Dalí, Damien Hirst, Banksy and Tracey Emin, as well as pieces by contemporary Irish artists and sculptors, such as Patrick O’Reilly, Liam O’Neill, Anna McKeever, Debbie Chapman and Ian Pollock.

As part of Beyond the Frame, artists, sculptors, architects and interior designers will speak about their projects in a series of free public talks. These include The Art of Creativity: Inside the Minds of Creative People on Saturday, November 21st at 2pm with photographer Barry McCall and artist Anna McKeever. John Morris, Stephen Forbes, Eamonn Ceannt and John Fitzgerald – all artists/sculptors that Gormleys represent – will speak about their inspiration on November 28th from 2pm.

Museum curators are often among those attracted to auctions, and a quick look through the catalogue of Lynes & Lynes’s next auction on November 14th explains why. The Co Cork auctioneers have a model of the Titanic (€1,000-€1,500) in the midst of a wide selection of maritime-related lots, which would fit comfortably into a maritime museum.

Telescopes, ships’ wheels, ships’ clocks, binoculars in cases and watercolours and prints of well-known ships such as the Cutty Sark are other pieces that will also appeal to private collectors of maritime memorabilia. The display case of over 30 ship models (€80-€120) and other models of sailing ships will offer coastal residents and owners of holiday homes seafaring ornamentation for their properties.

Silver enthusiasts will also want to check through the wide variety of tablespoons, teaspoons, sugar tongs, coffee pots (including one George II with an estimate of €800-€1,200), at the viewing at their auction rooms in Carrigtwohill, Co Cork, from Saturday, November 7th to Friday, November 13th, 10am-5pm daily.

The high estimate on a rare silver straining spoon made by Cork-based silversmith Joseph Gibson in the early 1800s (€600-€800), and a rare silver soup ladle made in 1775 by Cork based silversmith Stephen Walsh (€1,000-€1,500), are reminders for anyone clearing out the homes of deceased relatives to carefully check through old cutlery before sending it to charity shops.

The Lynes & Lynes auction – which includes four executors’ estates – has all kinds of other memorabilia collected over several lifetimes. For example, there are toy cars, dolls, sets of Enid Blyton books and boxes of postcards and old maps. Several sets of unused table mats (€30-€50) point to more frugal times.

Finally, viewing continues today and tomorrow, Saturday/Sunday, November 7th and 8th, from 10am-4pm for the classical and contemporary online auction at Mullen’s Auctioneers, Laurel Park, Bray, Co Wicklow. As usual, this auction house has a wide range of period furniture (with some more contemporary pieces dotted throughout the showrooms), paintings, rugs, lamps, gilt framed mirrors and tableware.

A baby grand piano designed by Steinway & Sons (€8,000-€12,000); a glit marble ebonised oval side cabinet (€160-€220); a designer angle poise floor standard lamp (€300-€500); and a mid-century chrome and walnut console table (€1,200-€1,800), are some of the standout items. The online auction will begin to close at 6pm on Sunday, November 8th.

Irishdesignweek.ie; gormleys.ie; lynesandlynes.com; mullenslaurelpark.com

What did it sell for?

• Estimate: €800-€1,400
• Hammer price: €800
• Auction house: deVeres

Murano glass chandelier

• Estimate €800-€1,400
• Hammer price €700
• Auction house: deVeres

French sewing box

• Estimate: €200-€300
• Hammer price: €600
• Auction house deVeres

Six Norman Cherner chairs

• Estimate: €3,000-€5,000
• Hammer price: €4,400
• Auction house: deVeres