Homan Potterton, art historian who revitalised Ireland’s National Gallery – obituary
He resigned from his post after eight years in protest at slow progress over repairs, but went on to become an acclaimed writer
Homan Potterton
Homan Potterton, who has died aged 74, was Director of the National Gallery of Ireland from 1980 until 1988, and then devoted himself to writing about art before turning, with remarkable versatility, to produce two books of memoirs and a novel.
The first of these memoirs, Rathcormick, told the story of an Irish upbringing as the youngest of eight children; he was born Homan Franklyn Potterton on May 9 1946 into a Protestant farming family of remote English descent, who lived in a bubble somewhat isolated from their Catholic compatriots but were neither posh nor anglicised.