Limerick artist shortlisted as AIB announces Portrait Prize finalists

FROM HUNDREDS of entries, the shortlists for this year’s AIB Portrait Prize and AIB Young Portrait Prize have been announced by the National Gallery of Ireland. 

Limerick city native, Darren Ryan, has been shortlisted for the AIB Portrait Prize along with 25 other artists from across the country with his photograph ‘Portrait of The Artist as a Middle Aged Man’.

The AIB Portrait Prize shortlist includes paintings, video and photography by artists from across the country. 

READ MORE: County Limerick landscapes subject of artist's debut exhibition

The University of Limerick’s American Football team will also feature in the exhibition, in artist Sean Taylor’s piece ‘AUDIBLE: A sound/video portrait of the University of Limerick Vikings American Football Team’.

The winner of the AIB Portrait Prize will receive a cash prize of €15,000 and will be commissioned to create a work for the National Portrait Collection, for which they will be awarded a further €5,000. 

Two additional awards of €1,500 will be given to highly commended works. Judges for the AIB Portrait Prize are Gareth Reid, artist; Professor Emily Mark-FitzGerald, Professor in the School of Art History & Cultural Policy in UCD; and Dr Barbara Dawson, Director of the Hugh Lane Gallery.

The winners of the prizes will be announced at a ceremony held in the National Gallery of Ireland on November 25, 2025. 

Exhibitions of the shortlisted works in both competitions will be on display in the Portrait Gallery in the National Gallery of Ireland from November 8, 2025 – March 15, 2026. 

The Gallery is delighted to partner 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 April 4 to June 20, 2026, and to Waterford from July 18 to October 11 2026.