[3] Lane did not live to see his gallery permanently located as he died in 1915 during the sinking of the RMS Lusitania.

[3] London's National Gallery did not recognise the codicil, and all the paintings form the Lane Bequest in their collection.

In 1938, the British put forward a suggestion from Sir Robert Witt: "...that these pictures should alternate between London and Dublin.

Legally, the holders have a very strong case, but we are so wealthy in our treasures, while Ireland is so comparatively poor..."[4] This eventually led to a compromise agreement in 1959, announced by Taoiseach Seán Lemass, whereby half of the Lane Bequest would be lent and shown in Dublin every five years.

Francis Bacon's studio was reconstructed in the gallery in 2001 after being dismantled and moved from London starting in 1998.

[12][13] The Hugh Lane is notable for its collection of French art, the Lane Bequest pictures including works such as The Umbrellas (Les Parapluies) by Auguste Renoir;[14] Portrait of Eva Gonzalès by Édouard Manet,[15] Édouard Manet's Music in the Tuileries, Jour d’Été by Berthe Morisot[16] and View of Louveciennes by Camille Pissarro.

[17] There is a permanent display of stained glass at the museum which features The Eve of St. Agnes by Irish artist and illustrator Harry Clarke.

"[20] Offside was a 2005 project in The Hugh Lane curated by Pallas Projects and included works by Albano Afonso, Antistrot, Anna Boyle, Rhona Byrne, Mark Cullen, Brian Duggan, John Dummet, Brendan Earley, Andreas Gefeller, Niamh McCann, Alex McCullagh, Nina McGowan, Nathaniel Mellors, Clive Murphy, Adriette Myburgh, Cris Neumann, Paul O’Neill, Garrett Phelan, Abigail Reynolds, Mark Titchner, Rich Streitmatter-Tran.

[23][24] Sleepwalkers (2012–15) curated by Michael Dempsey and Logan Sisley was a two-year project in which six artists (Clodagh Emoe, Lee Welch, Sean Lynch, Linda Quinlan, Jim Ricks, and Gavin Murphy) were invited to use the museum's resources, reveal their artistic process, and to collaborate with each other in this "unusual experiment in exhibition production".