Mounted engraving and etching entitled "The Departure of Her Majesty Queen Victoria from Kingstown 1849. Victoria & Albert and Fairy leaving harbour".

The picture shows the departure of Queen Victoria from Kingstown (as Dún Laoghaire was known 1821-1920) on 10 August 1849, during a three-stop Irish tour (Cork-Dublin-Belfast). The engraving is after the oil painting by the Irish marine artist Matthew Kendrick in the Royal Collection (RCIN 405384), which was purchased by Victoria in April 1850, and engraved with a key by Mottram, being published by both Thomas Cranfield of Dublin and Lloyd Brothers of London in 1852.

The picture shows the ‘Victoria & Albert I’ being followed by the ‘Fairy’ and other steamboats out of the harbour, with the east pier and its lighthouse at right crowded with spectators waving at the fleet, and others watching from rowing boats in the foreground. The port is depicted in the distance with mountains behind, and at right a man of war in the open sea fires a salute. Faintly visible on the V&A’s paddle box, the Royal Party waves at the crowds. The composition affords particular prominence to the east lighthouse (extant), recently-constructed in 1847; the west pier lighthouse (also extant) followed in 1852, so did not exist at the time of Victoria’s visit and is accordingly not shown.