The National College of Art and Design, now a recognised college of the National University of Ireland (NUI), started in 1746 as a small private drawing school in George’s Lane, Smithfield. That small school trained many of the artists, designers and sculptors who shaped Georgian Dublin. WB Yeats and Æ were among the students during the arts and crafts revival of the late nineteenth century.

The main campus of the college is now in Thomas Street, in the historic Liberties area of Dublin, where it has played a vital role in the flowering of the visual arts in Ireland over the last 25 years, providing its students with the perfect platform for the future, based on the finest traditions of a distinguished past. It is now the leading provider of art and design education in the state. A recognised college of the National University of Ireland since 1996, the National College of Art and Design is governed by a board appointed by the Minister for Education and Science. Close to a thousand students are served by a full-time academic staff of 75 lecturers and tutors supplemented by specialist visiting and part-time lecturers.

NCAD offers advanced study, practice and research across art, design, education, history, theory and criticism. Artists, designers, theorists, critics, historians, educators and other cultural workers pursue postgraduate studies at the College, attracted by the strength of existing programmes and the constant innovation which creates programmes attuned to the latest developments in art, design, visual culture, criticism and theory.