The death has taken the place of Roscommon native and world-famous Irish artist Brian O'Doherty, otherwise known as 'Patrick Ireland'.
The Ballaghaderreen native was conferred with the freedom of Roscommon in 2018 at the Irish Museum of Modern Art.
He lived in New York for six decades and changed his name to Patrick Ireland following the events of Bloody Sunday in 1972. In 2008, following the peace process, he ceremoniously buried the name at Imma in Dublin.
He was born in Ballaghaderreen in 1928 and spent many years as an Arts critic with the New York times. He is survived by his wife Barbara Novak and the couple had no children.
Irish American artist Brian O'Doherty, who died in NYC yest, was unsung hero of Irish peace process. After Bloody Sunday, in protest, he changed his name to Patrick Ireland. In 2009 he visited Stormont and in 2011 unveiled his Aisling an Phobail artwork on Falls. #LaochArLár 😢💔 pic.twitter.com/XrqiBoBXsR
— Andersonstown News (@ATownNews) November 8, 2022
Brian O’Doherty ( Patrick Ireland ) 1928-2022 - note book pen drawings made @cc_irlandais #Paris 2006 on the occasion of a lecture he presented on Robert Rauschenberg RIP pic.twitter.com/ipmmPOnl2c
— Mick O'Dea (@MickODeaArtist) November 8, 2022
We were sorry to hear of the passing of Brian O’Doherty. His extraordinary work has left an indelible mark on the art scene in Ireland and beyond. His artistic alias, Patrick Ireland, was born at Project in 1972 as a protest against the Bloody Sunday Massacre in Derry. pic.twitter.com/njEBB7aphm
— Project Arts Centre (@projectarts) November 8, 2022
Speaking to Shannonside FM in 2018 at the conferring of the Freedom of the County, he said he was very proud of his west Roscommon roots:
