Richard Orpen

Richard Orpen (24 December 1863 – 27 March 1938) was an Irish architect, painter, illustrator and designer. Life and family Richard Francis Caulfield Orpen was born on 24 December 1863. His parents were Anne (née Caulfield) and Arthur Herbert Orpen, a solicitor of Oriel, Blackrock, County Dublin. His maternal grandfather was bishop of Nassau, Charles Caulfield. He was the eldest of four brothers and two sisters. His youngest brother was William, the painter. Orpen attended St Columba's college, Rathfarnham, County Dublin, and graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a BA in 1885. While attending St Columba's, Orpen published an Irish comic alphabet for the present times in 1881, which was a mix of cartoons and verse mocking Charles Stewart Parnell and the home rule movement. He married Violet Caulfield in 1900. They were both descended from William Caulfeild, 1st Viscount Charlemont. Orpen died on 27 March 1938 at his home, Coologe, and is buried in Deans Grange Cemetery. Career He wanted to pursue painting, but "for family reasons" he became an architect. He spent 11 years with Thomas Drew, initially as a pupil, and later as a managing assistant from 1885 to 1892. From around 1884, Orpen attended the annual excursions of the English Architectural Association. Around 1890, he established his own architectural practice in Drew's offices at 22 Clare Street, Dublin. In 1896, he moved his office to 7 Leinster Street. In 1888 he was elected as a member of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland, serving as a council member from 1902 to 1910, as honorary secretary from 1903 to 1905, and as president from 1914 to 1917. Orpen designed the institute's official seal in 1909. In 1904, the Irish Builder described him as the "originator of the bungalow in Ireland".