 The earliest known Irish graphic art and sculpture are Neolithic carvings found at sites such as Newgrange and is traced through Bronze age artefacts and the religious carvings and illuminated manuscripts of the medieval period . During the course of the 19th and 20th centuries , a strong tradition of painting emerged , including such figures as John Butler Yeats , William Orpen , Jack Yeats and Louis le Brocquy . Contemporary Irish visual artists of note include Sean Scully , Kevin Abosch , and Alice Maher . 
