Background
The second youngest of five children, O'Dea grew up in Ennis, County Clare, the son of Mick and Margaret O'Dea.
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Mick O'Dea
Edit ProfileEducation
He displayed talent for portraiture at a young age, recalling "I drew incessantly." From 1976 to 1981 O'Dea studied at the National College of Art and Design, and the University of Massachusetts.
Career
He continued his studies in Barcelona and at the Winchester School of Art, where he was awarded an M.A. in European Fine Art in 1997. He has taught at the National College of Art and Design, Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, The National Gallery, Portlaoise Prison, the Lyme Academy College of Fine Art and the Royal Hibernian Academy, of which he is a member. From 2008 to 2011 he was the first School Principal of the RHA. In 2009 O'Dea was commissioned by the National Gallery of Ireland to paint a portrait of playwright Brian Friel.
Recent historical themes have included paintings depicting the Black and Tans and the Irish War of Independence.
