The Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts has announced the recipients of this year’s prestigious awards at the 196th RHA Annual Exhibition in association with McCann FitzGerald, with acclaimed Irish artist Robert Ballagh receiving the RHA Gold Medal for his outstanding contribution to the visual arts in Ireland.
Presented annually as part of Ireland’s longest-running and largest open-submission exhibition, the RHA awards celebrate excellence across contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, drawing and emerging practice, with more than €42,500 in prize funding awarded this year.
The 2026 RHA Gold Medal recognises Robert Ballagh’s extraordinary artistic career and decades-long advocacy on behalf of Irish artists. A founding force in artists’ rights in Ireland, Ballagh played a pivotal role in securing resale rights legislation for Irish visual artists and has remained one of the country’s most influential cultural figures for over five decades.
This year’s exhibition attracted almost 4,900 submissions, with 435 works selected for exhibition following a rigorous adjudication process. The exhibition spans all galleries at the RHA and offers a sweeping overview of contemporary visual art practice in Ireland today.
Among the major award recipients announced were:
- Alana Barton, winner of the ESB Keating Award and Silver Medal for her work Lull
- Cheryl Brown, recipient of the ESB Moran Award for Outstanding Sculpture for Irish Goat
- Niamh O’Malley, awarded the Solomon Fine Art Award for Sculpture for Held, arrangement (2)
- John Behan, recipient of the Morgan O’Driscoll Sculpture Award for The Morrigan
- Geraldine O’Neill, winner of the McCann FitzGerald Portraiture Award for Alltar
- Dominic Turner, winner of the Progressive Vision Curtin O’Donoghue Photography Award for Never Alone
- Niamh Swanton, recipient of the Emerging Photographic Artist Award for The Desire to Strive for a Better Place
Five artists were also shortlisted for the prestigious Hennessy Craig / Homan Potterton Awards, which together carry a future prize value of €40,000. The shortlisted artists are Sian Costello, Ivica Purgar, Tom McLean, Alana Barton and Ben McCabe.
Other notable award recipients include Doreen Kilfeather, Eoin Mac Lochlainn, Dorothy Smith, Felicity Clear and Melissa O’Donnell, reflecting the breadth of practice and generations represented in this year’s exhibition.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, Sinéad Ní Mhaonaigh, President of the RHA, described the exhibition as both a vital platform for emerging artists and a defining showcase for established voices in Irish visual culture.
Full List of Prize Winners Available HERE
Now in its 196th year, the RHA Annual Exhibition remains one of the most important fixtures in Ireland’s cultural calendar, bringing together Academicians, invited artists and artists selected through open submission in a unique democratic exhibition model that continues to shape the national conversation around contemporary art.
The 196th RHA Annual Exhibition in association with McCann FitzGerald runs at the RHA Gallery, Ely Place, Dublin until 9 August. Admission is free.
