Four year-old Kildare artist is the youngest contender for the AIB Young Portrait Prize

Two Kildare artists shortlisted for AIB Portrait Prize and AIB Young Portrait Prize competitions at the National Gallery of Ireland. 

Abigail Leonard (4) from Sallins is the youngest contender for the Young Portrait prize with another Kildare person, Shane Hynan, from Carbury competing for the AIB Portrait Prize. 

ABOVE: Shane Hynan's photograph, Residents of Coill Dubh Bord na Móna workers village built in 1952 and designed by Frank Gibney. Owen Denneny, Peadar Cosgrove, Josie Byrne, Ray Lenehan and Ann Moore, from the collaborative and community engaged project ‘Tóch | Dig’ (2024 present)

Exhibitions of the shortlisted works in both competitions will be on display in the Portrait Gallery (Room 23) in the National Gallery of Ireland from 8 November 2025 – 15 March 2026. The winners of the Prizes will be announced at a ceremony held in the National Gallery of Ireland on 25 November 2025. 

The Gallery has partnered with Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny and Waterford Gallery of Art to present the AIB Portrait Prize and AIB Young Portrait Prize 2025. Following the exhibitions at the National Gallery of Ireland, the works will travel to Letterkenny from 4 April to 20 June 2026, and to Waterford from 18 July to 11 October 2026.

Abigail Leonard's Rainy Day (full image)

Shortlisted artists for the AIB Portrait Prize 2025 at the National Gallery of Ireland:

Peter Bradley (Galway City), Pink Triangle, oil on panel (triptych)

Missy Brinkmeyer (Cabra, Dublin), Essence of Flow, photograph 

Enda Burke (Galway City), Bruised Still Blooming, photograph

Siobhán Clancy (Cork City), Invasive, photograph

David Creedon (Carrigaline, Cork), Becky with her Bee Hives, photograph 

Ian Cumberland (Down, based in Belfast), The Boys, oil on linen

Rebecca Ruth Ewnetu (based in Clapham, South London), Irish, photograph

John Foley (Waterford City), Biddy Boy, photograph

Shane Hynan (Carbury, Kildare), Residents of Coill Dubh Bord na Móna workers village built in 1952 and designed by Frank Gibney. Owen Denneny, Peadar Cosgrove, Josie Byrne, Ray Lenehan and Ann Moore, from the collaborative and community engaged project ‘Tóch | Dig’ (2024 present), photograph 

Joe Laverty (Stewartstown, Tyrone), Declan, Lough Neagh Fisherman, photograph

Miseon Lee (Dundalk, Louth), Blues, oil on linen

Frances Leogue (Glasnevin, Dublin), Field Trip, oil on linen

Nathan Lowry (Kinsealy/Swords, Dublin), Circle of Life, acrylic on canvas

Kenny McKendry (Whitehead, Antrim), Ole Bendik, oil on panel

Jillian Murphy (Phibsborough, Dublin), Here, is a Stranger, oil on canvas

Daniel Nelis (Ramelton, Donegal), Late Spring, oil on panel

Kevin O’Farrell (Glasnevin, Dublin), ‘Paul Simon’ (1972) cover version, acrylic on wood panel

Áine O’Hara (Mayo, based in Dublin), Day 261 Bedbound/I miss ye, photograph

Clodagh O’Leary (Kerry, based in Dublin), Never Be Without Your Horse, photograph

Conor O’Leary (Wexford, based in London), The Final Portrait, photograph

Francis O’Toole (Dublin City), The Waste Land, oil on linen

Misaki Parbrook (Carrigaline, Cork), Crossing, oil on canvas

Kathy Raftery (Ballinlough, Roscommon), Fireside Beauty Parlour, photograph 

Darren Ryan (Limerick City), Portrait of The Artist as a Middle Aged Man, photograph 

Niamh Swanton (Dunmore East, Waterford), God, I Hope it All Goes Away, photograph 

Sean Taylor (Clonmel, Tipperary), AUDIBLE: A sound/video portrait of the University of Limerick Vikings American Football Team, video

Shortlisted artists for the AIB Young Portrait Prize 2025 at the National Gallery of Ireland:

Abigail Leonard, Age 4 (Sallins, Kildare), Rainy Day, pencil, charcoal, collage and paint on paper

Victoria Muradova, Age 5 (Sandyford, Dublin), This is me with Flowers Walking Around Istanbul, chalk on paper

Rohan Agrawal, Age 6 (Sandymount, Dublin), Me and My Curls, oil pastels and acrylic on canvas

Elijah Coada, Age 6 (Sligo Town), Sharing Ice Cream is Fun, collage: watercolour, oil pastels, paper, leaf, posca markers on paper

Darra Murphy, Age 6 (Rathmines, Dublin), Louis, my brother, pencil and marker on paper

Emilie Cowley Lane, Age 9 (Drumree, Meath), Mom, clay on board

Cillian Rush, Age 9 (Rostrevor, Down), Thumbs Up, acrylic painting on paper

Michael Ryan, Age 10 (Kilmaley, Clare), In Deep Thought, paint on paper

James Scally, Age 11 (Terenure, Dublin), Depends How You Look at It, pencil on paper

Guorui Sui, Age 11 (Cabinteely, Dublin), My Own World of Fantasy, oil pastel on canvas

Alice Agafonova, Age 13 (Dublin 8), Presence, acrylic on paper

Claire Darcy, Age 14 (Portumna, Galway), Six, digital illustration on paper

Samuel Deasy, Age 14 (Ballincollig, Cork), Mark, photograph

Ruixin Chen, Age 15 (Bray, Wicklow), Climbing Through, oil paint on canvas

Jiayi Sun, Age 15 (Ardilea, Dublin), Guess How Much I Love You, gouache, polychromos colour pencils on canvas

Martha McKeown, Age 16 (Newry, Armagh) Obscure, pencil on paper

Walt Russell, Age 16 (Raheny, Dublin), Memento Mori, oil on paper

Matthew Foley, Age 18 (Stillorgan, Dublin), 05/03/2025, acrylic paint on acrylic paper

Jill Tritschler, Age 18 (Greystones, Wicklow), Minerva, oil on canvas

Danny Walsh, Age 18 (Claremorris, Mayo), Queen of the May, acrylic on canvas

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