Cork In 50 Artworks, No 46: Naval Steam Frigate Moored Off Queenstown, by George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson

The self-taught painter's work was part of a donation of historic artwork by the Port of Cork company to the Crawford Arts Gallery

Naval Steam Frigate Moored Off Queenstown, by George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson.

In February 2021, the Port of Cork Company vacated its headquarters at the Custom House on Custom House Quay. The company had occupied the premises for over a century, but the site is now to be developed as a major new hotel and retail centre, while the Port of Cork staff have moved to new offices in Tivoli and Ringaskiddy.

One major benefit to the city was the decision by the Port of Cork Company to donate its collection of artworks and historical items to the Crawford Art Gallery. The collection includes a silver Admiralty Oar from 1686, an illuminated address to Charles Stewart Parnell, and a ship’s registrar from the Cork Harbour Commissioners that refers to both the Titanic and the Lusitania, along with 17 maritime paintings. Of these, eleven are by the 19th-century Cobh artist George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson, including one called Naval Steam Frigate Moored Off Queenstown, which dates from 1838.