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arts · Saturday 1 August 2026 · Gallery hours 
Dunamaise Arts Centre: August Visual Arts Exhibition
At Dunamaise Arts Centre · Portlaoise, Co. Laois
At Dunamaise Arts Centre · Portlaoise, Co. Laois
The gallery at Dunamaise Arts Centre runs a fresh exhibition every month, and August brings “The Art of Madderdoit” - a month-long show that gives you a proper reason to stop in Portlaoise rather than just pass through it. Admission is free, so the only commitment is your time. The programme draws in professional artists, curators, arts collectives and community projects, making each monthly show genuinely different from the last. If you find yourself in Laois for walking, visiting family or just passing through on the M7, a wander around the gallery is an easy addition to the day.
The Dunamaise gallery sits inside one of the more interesting buildings in the midlands - a former gaol built around 1789, its limestone walls converted into one of Laois’s main cultural venues when it reopened in 1999. The gallery space is compact and focused, which means the work tends to read clearly without feeling crowded.
August’s exhibition is “The Art of Madderdoit,” running the full calendar month. The centre’s rotating programme covers a wide range of media - painting, print, photography, mixed media and sculptural work all feature across the year. The monthly format means that if you visited in July (when “A Cool Rain Murmuring” was on) you will find something completely different waiting in August.
Gallery hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm. The centre also opens the gallery one hour before evening performances, so if you have tickets for a show, you can come early and take the exhibition in first.
Portlaoise sits on the M7 motorway, roughly an hour from Dublin and around 45 minutes from Limerick, which makes it one of the more accessible midlands towns for a day trip. The Dunamaise Arts Centre is right in the town centre on Church Street. Dublin Heuston to Portlaoise is a regular Iarnród Éireann route with trains running throughout the day, and the station is a short walk from the arts centre. Street parking is available nearby; the town centre car parks tend to be straightforward outside of market days.
The Rock of Dunamase, the medieval fortress that gives the arts centre its name, is a short drive from the town and worth the detour - you get wide views across the Laois countryside from the top. There is more to see in Portlaoise and across Co. Laois.
Heading to Dunamaise Arts Centre in Portlaoise? Laois has plenty more to see. Read the Portlaoise area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.