The Ballagh house is perfectly pop. Situated at the end of a south-facing terrace of small artisan dwellings in Broadstone, Dublin's north inner city, 3 Temple Cottages is one of the most familiar houses in Irish art. It became something of an icon in 1977, when Robert Ballagh painted his family outside their home. In No 3 — an important work and the first in a series of figurative paintings he made of the house — his face is hidden behind a book called How to Make Art Commercial. Back then he was used to signing on the dole.
