Tributes paid on death of Brian O'Doherty, 'one of Ireland's most influential artists'

The late Brian O'Doherty worked for many years under the name 'Patrick Ireland', with his pieces including a series of murals at the Sirius in Cobh

Brian O'Doherty (formerly known as Patrick Ireland) with his wife Barbara Novak at the Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh in 2018. Picture: Clare Keogh

Brian O’Doherty, who has died aged 94, was a native of Ballaghdereen, Co Roscommon, who found fame in America as an art critic, an artist, a television presenter, a filmmaker, an author and an educator. This all came after he first qualified as a medical doctor.

Born in 1928, O’Doherty studied medicine at University College Dublin before progressing to post-graduate studies at Cambridge University and Harvard School of Public Health, where he made an unlikely career change in 1957.