Biography

Born in Winchester in 1929, he was raised in Dublin. He started painting in 1943 under the sculptor Oisín Kelly, and later studied at the National College of Art in Dublin. In 1957 he received a scholarship to attend the Jan Van Eyck Academy in Holland, where he began working with stained glass under Albert Troost.
In 1973 he began etching at the Graphic Studio in Dublin, and he has had many solo exhibitions in the city. He has completed many major commissions on religious themes, including Glenstal Abbey, Co. Limerick; Church of the Resurrection, Belfast; Convent of Mercy, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone (1965); Fossa Chapel, Killarney (1977); a triptych illustrating man's expulsion from the Garden of Eden at Bank of Ireland headquarters (1981); and Stations of the Cross for Ballycasheen Church in Killarney (1993).
Recent commissions include an altarpiece, stained glass windows and roundels for a rebuilt church at Claddaghmore, Co. Armagh (1997-98); a crucifix for Our Lady of Lourdes church in Drogheda (1999); The Life of Our Lady, a six-panel painting on copper for the North Cathedral in Cork (1999); The Transfiguration, a 10-foot wallhanging for St. Mary's Oratory at NUI Maynooth (2000) and The Baptism of Christ, an oil painting for a new church at Drumbo, Belfast. The Royal Hibernian Academy exhibited Triptychs and Icons, a retrospective of his work, in 1997.
Since the Millennium a large painting Theologian in his Garden has been acquired by St Thomas' University in St Paul (MN) for their Centre of Catholic Studies. In 2005 Patrick was invested with a D.Phil (hon.causa) by Maynooth University. He is a founding member of Aosdána.