Tony and Jane O'Malley: The Shared Studio

Butler Gallery devotes its main galleries this autumn to Tony and Jane O’Malley, a married pair of Irish painters whose separate but overlapping careers are rarely shown side by side. The Shared Studio, curated by Butler Gallery director Anna O’Sullivan, opens on Saturday, 8 August 2026 to coincide with Kilkenny Arts Festival and runs through to Monday, 26 October, giving it one of the longest runs of any exhibition in the gallery’s autumn programme.

What to expect

Tony O’Malley, who grew up in Callan, Co. Kilkenny, and his wife Jane, a Canadian painter, worked from studios that fed off each other for decades, and this exhibition is built around that shared working life rather than treating either artist in isolation. Expect abstract and semi-abstract paintings that draw on landscape, light and the rhythms of the natural world, hung together so the connections and differences between the two painters’ approaches become visible in the same rooms. The show is timed to the height of Kilkenny Arts Festival in early August, when the gallery is at its busiest, but it continues well past the festival into late October, so there is no need to rush a visit into festival week itself. Entry is free, in keeping with Butler Gallery’s standard admission policy for its exhibitions.

Getting there

Butler Gallery is in Evans’ Home on John’s Quay, on the bank of the River Nore beside Kilkenny Castle, a short walk from the city centre. Opening hours are Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm, with late opening to 8pm on Thursdays, and Sunday 11am to 5pm, closed Mondays except bank holidays. The nearest public parking is at the Castle car park and the Market Yard.

While you’re in Kilkenny

The gallery sits directly beside Kilkenny Castle and its parkland, so a visit to the exhibition combines naturally with a walk through the castle grounds or along the river. There is more to see in Kilkenny and across Co. Kilkenny.

Good to know

• Dates: Saturday 8 August to Monday 26 October 2026
• Time: gallery opening hours, Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm (Thursday to 8pm), Sunday 11am to 5pm, closed Mondays
• Venue: Butler Gallery, Evans’ Home, John’s Quay, Kilkenny
• Price: Free entry
• Recurrence: One continuous run, no need to attend during Kilkenny Arts Festival specifically