One of the most versatile figures in Irish sculpture, Oisin Kelly was born in Dublin, and studied languages at Trinity College, before taking up a travelling scholarship to frankfurt where he attended art school. On his return to Ireland he became a teacher like his father. But fine art was still an important interest, and he took evening classes at the National College of Art and Design. At the end of the war, he taught in Waterford, where he attended wood-carving evening classes under Robert Burke, the principal.

In 1946, he moved back to Rathfarnham Dublin where he continued teaching for the next 20 years: first in French, then Irish, and later art. Meanwhile he continued to pursue his interest in sculpture, and ...