Though Ireland can pride itself on its national self-portrait collection, housed at the University of Limerick, very little research has been done on self-portrayal in Irish literature and visual arts. This absence of scientific investigation is all the more surprising as, as Marie Bourke observes, “self-portrayal is a complex act. The private nature of the task, and the intensity of self-scrutiny that it entails, has challenged artists through the ages. It’s not just a question of self-examination, but a process recording a likeness, the depiction of a psychological state, or social status, or the representation of abstract ideas” (Marie Bourke, Exploring Art at the National Gallery, Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland, 1997, p. 35). Self-portraiture admittedly is a probing endeavor but cannot be a straightforward representation since it requires the use of a mirror. A dim light, expressive eyes or a focus on the face may be the hallmarks of a confession. But there is much more to a self-portrait than meets the eye –be it the eye of the artist him/herself or the viewer’s or the reader’s: “The conception of the self-portrait as a privileged insight into an authentic truth has, like all interpretation, been opened up to more demanding and nuanced scrutiny,” William Gallagher notes (Introduction to William Gallagher, The National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland, volume 2 1989-1999, University of Limerick Press, 2006). If “a self-portrait is a purely personal commitment” inviting readers or viewers to “witness an intimate discovery” (Preface to Sarah Finlay, The National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland, volume 1 1979-1989, University of Limerick Press, 1989, p. 10), such an image is not to be blindly trusted. Artists stage their own identities and persona, playing with fame and the artist’s personableness, showing disrespect, or disregarding conventions and mores. The mirror in which the artist beholds him/herself is therefore often a curved one. This volume of Études Irlandaises (Volume 43.1) seeks to scrutinize the diverging strategies that lie at the core of self-portraiture. Together with an introduction by Fintan Cullen, author of The Irish Face. Redefining the Irish Portrait (London, National Portrait Gallery, 2004), Volume 43.1 includes chapters on Samuel Beckett, Derek Mahon, Paul Durcan, Paul Muldoon, eighteenth-century self-portraiture, Erskine Nicol, Seán Keating, Amanda Coogan and Helena Walsh.