At The Lord Mayor's Pavilion, Fitzgerald's Park · Fitzgerald's Park, Cork City, Co. Cork
Every summer, Sample-Studios brings the work of Cork’s practising artists into one of the city’s most charming buildings, and the result is a show worth making time for. Thirty members exhibit new and recent work across painting, sculpture, photography, print, drawing and mixed media - a genuine cross-section of what is being made in Cork studios right now. The exhibition runs from late July through to early September, so there is no pressure to catch it on a single day, and with free admission, it suits an afternoon stroll through the park as much as a deliberate gallery visit. Artists and art-curious alike tend to find something here.
The 2026 show brings together a large and varied group of Sample-Studios members, including Siobhan Collins, Joe Heffernan, Maitiú Mac Cárthaigh, Sinéad Barrett, Anthony Murphy, Colette Cronin, Tetiana Milshyna, Natalie Pullen, Chris Finnegan, Colette Mulholland, Leah Murphy, Mary O’Leary, Éadaoin Glynn, Blanca Rice Cabrera, Elize de Beer, Diane Magee, Viktoria Kondratieva, Fiona Boniwell, Catherine Callanan, Aisling Roche, Mags Geaney, Anne Marie Deacy, Kim-Ling Morris, Ava Hayes, Grace Haynes, John MacMonagle, Sophie Gough, Mary Cooke, Amal Alsahli and others. The venue itself adds to the occasion. The Lord Mayor’s Pavilion is a late Victorian building at the entrance to Fitzgerald’s Park, originally built as the ladies’ rest room and tea rooms for the Cork International Exhibition of 1902. Its ornate tiled mosaic floor, timber windows and decorative stucco make it an intimate and handsome space for art. Sample-Studios is a registered non-profit supported by the Arts Council of Ireland and Cork City Council, and the annual members show is the centrepiece of its exhibition year. An opening reception takes place on Thursday 25 July from 7 to 9pm - worth attending if you enjoy meeting artists and seeing a show on its first night.
Fitzgerald’s Park sits on the Western Road in Cork City, about a ten-minute walk west of the city centre along the south bank of the River Lee. From Parnell Place bus station or St Patrick’s Street, several Bus Eireann routes travel the Western Road and stop close to the park entrance. By car, the park is well signposted from the Western Road; street parking is available on Mardyke Walk and the surrounding streets, though spaces fill quickly on busy days. The park itself is flat and accessible on foot from the city.
Fitzgerald’s Park is a pleasant place to spend time before or after the exhibition, with its ornamental fountain and the Cork Public Museum also on the grounds. The Western Road leads back into the city centre where the English Market, St Fin Barre’s Cathedral and the Crawford Art Gallery are all within easy reach. There is more to see in Cork and across Co. Cork.
Heading to The Lord Mayor's Pavilion, Fitzgerald's Park in Cork? Cork has plenty more to see. Read the Cork area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.