Anne Crookshank

Anne Olivia Crookshank HRHA (3 January 1927 – 18 October 2016) was a pioneering Irish art historian, and emeritus professor of the history of art at Trinity College Dublin, the department she established in 1966.

Early life Crookshank was born in Belfast, the middle of three daughters to Henry Crookshank and Eileen Mary “Kitty” Somerville (née Lodge). Crookshank spent the first five years of life in India where her father was engaged in geographical survey work in the central provinces. Crookshank moved around quite a bit in her early days, including spells in Carlisle, London and Fethard in Tipperary. Crookshank studied at Alexandra College for a year before furthering her studies in history at Trinity College, Dublin. She then attended the Courtauld Institute under Anthony Blunt, where she wrote her thesis on the drawings of George Romney, before gaining her first employment at the Tate Gallery.

In 1966 Crookshank began a long journey to reassess the place of Irish art in the World by establishing Ireland's first art history faculty at Trinity College, Dublin. She travelled the length and breadth of Ireland to rediscover lost artists and paintings, firmly establishing the history of Irish art within a wider European context.

Death and legacy Crookshank died in Áras Uí Dhomhnaill Nursing Home, Milford after a long illness, in the autumn of 2016. She was survived by her sister Helen and several nieces and nephews.