"Long-famed for its safe anchorages and aesthetic beauty, Cork Harbour, the largest western port of Europe, has for many years been a favourite subject of artists. This book, published to coincide with the exhibition organised by the Crawford Art Gallery and the Port of Corks, tells the story of the harbour and the River Lee from the 17th century to the present. Over eighty paintings are reproduced as full-page colour plates, along with engravings, maps and additional documentary material." "The earliest representations of the harbour relate to military campaigns: Pacata Hibernia includes an engraving of fortifications at Haulbowline at the beginning of the 17th century, while one of the earliest views of that same island, painted by William van der Hagen in 1738, shows it surrounded by shipping. Peter Monamy's paintings of sailing vessels of the Cork Water Club, founded in 1720, are records of the birth of yachting as a sport. A century later, the Atkinson family of marine painters, who lived in Cobh, produced many views of naval, transport and emigrant ships in the harbour." "Artists Robert Lowe Stopford and Joan Bosanquet also recorded social and industrial developments in the 19th century, including the building of steamships in Cork, and the development of dockyards, quays, railways and fortifications. The working life of the present-day harbour, with its ferries, trawlers and tankers, forms the subject of Mark Hathaway's watercolours, while Kenneth King has depicted most, if not all, of the ships of the Irish Naval Service." "Each colour plate is accompanied by a detailed explanatory text by Peter Murray, while a chronological history provides additional background information."--Jacket.

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