Geraldine O'Brien (27 February 1922 – 3 July 2014) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

botanical illustrator.

Early life

She was born Geraldine Mary O'Brien on 27 February 1922, to parents Donough Richard O'Brien and distinguished artist

Cicely Maud Carus-Wilson ''Myrrhis odorata'', with common names cicely (), sweet cicely, myrrh, garden myrrh, and sweet chervil, is a herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the celery family Apiaceae. It is the only species in the genus ''Myrrhis''. Etymology The gen ...

. She was cousin to both the artist

Dermod O'Brien William Dermod O'Brien PRHA DL Hon RA (10 June 1865 – 3 October 1945), commonly known as Dermod O'Brien, was an Irish painter, chiefly of landscapes and portraits. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the ...

PRHA,

Brigid Ganly Brigid Ganly HRHA (29 January 1909 – 25 March 2002), was an Irish painter and sculptor Early life and education Brigid Ganly was born Rosaleen Brigid O'Brien on the 29 January 1909 in Dublin to Dermod O'Brien and his wife Mabel Smiley. She w ...

HRHA and President of the Watercolour Society

Kitty Wilmer O'Brien Kitty Wilmer O'Brien (7 August 1910 – 1982) was an Irish oil and watercolour landscape artist. Life Kitty Wilmer was born in India on 7 August 1910 to Major Harold Gordon Wilmer and Alice Violet McEntire. Her father was killed at Gallipoli wh ...

RHA.

Education and work

O'Brien was educated in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

where she won prizes in the international competitions of London's

Royal Drawing Society The Royal Drawing Society of Great Britain and Ireland was founded in 1888 in London, with the aim of teaching drawing for educational reasons. The methods of instruction were based on the idea that very young children attempt to draw before the ...

. At 17 she spent a year in West Cornwall with

Stanhope Alexander Forbes Stanhope Alexander Forbes (18 November 1857 – 2 March 1947) was a British artist and a founding member of the influential Newlyn school of painters. He was often called 'the father of the Newlyn School'.Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the RIA, the academy retained the word "Royal" after most of Ireland became in ...

. It became difficult to study internationally with the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and O'Brien took the opportunity to use her skills for the war effort and turned to mechanical drawing. However, it was as a botanical illustrator she was best known. Her studio in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

was always called ''the piggery'' and was where she brought in the plants from her garden to arrange for her work. She continued to exhibit on a regular basis both with the RHA and private exhibitions around Ireland.On occasion she would use her art to raise funds for charities like Friends of St Luke's Hospital in Rathgar.

Personal life

O'Brien married David Coote Hely Hutchinson on 25 September 1948 with whom she had one daughter. They lived in 2003 at

Parteen Parteen () is a village in County Clare, Ireland. It is situated in the townland of the same name that is part of the civil parish of St Patrick's. It is also part of an Ecclesiastical parish of "Parteen-Meelick" in the Roman Catholic Diocese o ...

, a village close to

City. She died in St. Martha's Nursing Home,

Charleville, County Cork Charleville ( ga, Ráth Luirc or ''An Ráth'') is a town in north County Cork, Ireland. It lies in the Golden Vale, on a tributary of the River Maigue, near the border with County Limerick. Charleville is on the N20 road and is the second-larges ...

on 3 July 2014.

References and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:OBrien, Geraldine 1922 births 2014 deaths Irish women artists