ART INSTRUCTION. 163 



without success. At length, in 1877, with the assistance of Mr. N. D. 

 jMurphy, ]\I.P., a scheme was authorised for the establishment of an im- 

 proved School of Art, a School of j\Iusic, and a School of Science, and con- 

 siderable support was received from the Corporation. 



The handsome building in which the Schools of Science and Art are now 

 housed consists of the old building of the Royal Cork Institution, with a 

 very considerable addition, and the architect, jNIr. Arthur Hill, solved a dif- 

 ficult problem with__distinct success in the way in which he grouped to- 

 gether the new and the old building into one harmonious and homogeneous 

 whole, so that a stranger could not detect the addition that was made. 

 The new building was presented to the city by the late Mr. W. H. Crawford, 

 with princely generosity, at a cost of over i^20,ooo. Their Royal Highnesses 

 the then Prince and Princess of Wales were present at the opening cere- 

 mony in 1885, and christened the building the Crawford Municipal School 

 of Art. 



The average number of students attending the School of Art for Art 

 subjects is about 220, and those studying machine or building construction, 

 without taking any Art subjects, bring the total under instruction to about 

 250. Formerly, the day and evening classes were about equal in number. 

 Thus, in the year 1885-6, the sessions immediately following the opening of 

 the new building, 133 students attended the day classes, and 136 the evening 

 classes ; latterly, not more than 70 have attended during the day, and the 

 evening classes average 180. A large proportion of the evening students are 

 either attending or have been educated at the National schools in the city, 

 and, unfortunately, much of the work done at the School of Art is, therefore, 

 of a very elementary character ; but it is hoped that with an improvement 

 in the hand and eye training of the National schools it will be found possible 

 to make the instruction in the School of Art of a more advanced character. 



The Cork Industrial Exhibition held in 1883 called attention to the lace 

 and crochet industry in the South of Ireland, and the need for improved 

 designs in their production. The visits paid by Mr. Alan S. Cole, of South 

 Kensington, also stimulated both the lace workers and the designers, and 

 from that time the Cork School of Art, and the branch classes founded in 

 connection with it, have acquired an increasing reputation for the artistic 

 character of the designs for lace and other needlework. 



The surplus realised by the Cork Exhibition of 1883 was applied to the 

 founding of two Local Scholarships, tenable at South Kensington by 

 students of the Cork School or the branch classes elsewhere. These Scholar- 

 ships have proved most beneficial in their results, as will be seen from a few 

 examples. In 1887 Michael ]\Iurphy, a stone carver, who had previously 

 held one of the local Exhibitions, obtained a National Scholarship at South 

 Kensington, and has since become a most successful Art craftsman, working 

 chiefly in London, but getting many commissions from architects in other 

 parts of England. In 1896 Michael M'Namara, another stone carver, was 

 successful in obtaining a National Scholarship, having the previous year held 

 a Local Exhibition, and after being a National Scholar for two years, his 

 Scholarship was continued for a third year, and he was placed in charge of 

 the other National Scholars. Albina Collins, of the branch class at the 

 Kinsale Convent, was appointed a National Scholar in 1896, and in 1897 

 Georgina Mackinlay, of the Cork School, and Cecilia Keyes, of the branch 

 class at Kinsale, each secured a National Scholarship, so that in the year 

 1897 no less than four of the National Scholars at South Kensington were 



