A lavishly illustrated clothbound volume of 288 pages, with 246 colour illustrations, the book features 120 key works of art by 100 Irish artists, each carried as full-page plates with accompanying texts written by leading art writers.

All of the major figures of Irish art are beautifully represented - 18th-century artists include James Barry, Francis Bindon, John Butts, Nathaniel Grogan and Alexander Pope; 19th-century artists include James Brenan, Samuel Forde, John Hogan, John Lavery, Daniel Maclise, James Arthur O'Connor and Walter Osborne; major 20th-century featured include Harry Clarke, Barrie Cooke, Paul Henry, William Leech, Louis le Brocquy, Seán Keating, Cecil King, Tony O'Malley, Patrick Scott, William Scott and Jack B Yeats, alongside key contemporary artists such as Dorothy Cross, Eilis O'Connell, Hughie O'Donoghue, Kathy Prendergast, Nigel Rolfe, Seán Scully and Donald Teskey.

Peter Murray writes an in-depth introductory essay about the development of Irish art over the three centuries and the building of the Crawford Gallery collection from its beginnings. Contributors include Fionna Barber, Julian Campbell, Tom Dunne, William Gallagher, William Laffan, Catherine Marshall, Paula Murphy, Peter Murray, Eimear O'Connor, Hilary Pyle, Brendan Rooney, Vera Ryan, Yvonne Scott, among others.

The book also includes an extensive bibliography and an index of illustrations.