Chiefs of Staff, The Portrait Collection

Chiefs of Staff, The Portrait Collection of the Irish Defence Forces, is a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the creation of the portrait collection housed in McKee Officers mess. It contains superb full colour reproductions of the twenty-eight Commanders in Chief and Chiefs of Staff of the Defence Forces. It also includes CVs of the leaders and of the artists, many of them the foremost Irish portrait painters of their day.

Complementing the portraits are insightful and illuminating essays on the history of the collection by Col Tom Hodson, the office of the Chief of Staff by Professor Eunan O’Halpin, the portrait as an art form by Donal Maguire NGI, the status of the collection by Dr Patrick Murphy ARHA and on the corresponding viewpoints of the sitter and the artist by Lieut Gen Colm Mangan DSM and James Hanley RHA.

A foreword by Mary McAleese, President of Ireland, draws attention to the vision and generosity of the members of McKee Officers mess in providing this unique collection and to McKee Officers Club in bringing the collection to a wider audience.

This is a unique and strictly limited edition of only 400 copies with approximately 150 copies remaining available. It will make a lasting addition to any book collection and a welcome present to art lovers and to friends of the Defence Forces alike. 

You can now purchase this book at €50 per copy.

Download the Order Form (PDF 49Kb)