Patrick Collins

Patrick Collins was born in Co. Sligo in the West of Ireland where his father was a policeman. His childhood spent close to nature in the countryside had s profound influence on his later development as a painter. When he was about 14 his mother was forced through financial strain and his father's death to send him to an orphanage in Dublin where, plagued by ill health, he concluded his education in miserable circumstances. After school Collins began a career in insurance which lasted for twenty years before he finally gave it up to paint full-time. As an artist he was largely self-taught and the abstract landscape style that he developed is both individual and quintessentially Irish. In his profound and intimate visions of Ireland Collins managed to capture the essence of the country's rich literary and mythical heritage. In recognition of his major role in Irish art he was awarded by the government-funded Aosdana association of Irish artists its highest honour, the title of Saoi, in 1987.