David O'Docherty:DAVID O'DOCHERTY, who has died aged 75, was a painter and traditional musician who had lived in Boston, Massachusetts since the 1970s.
He was born in Dublin in 1935 to a family active in the struggle for independence. His father Joseph was interned in Frongoch camp after the 1916 rising, and was elected to the first Dáil for North Donegal.
He studied under Maurice McGonigal at the National College of Art where his contemporaries included Brian Bourke, Edward Delaney and the late James McKenna. He left after a year for London, where he shared a studio with Bourke and then Paris, where he exhibited at Galerie Furstenberg. He returned to London, and moved to the US in 1974, living in New York and later in Boston.
He exhibited at the University of Massachusetts, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, the Guild Gallery in Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts and at local galleries. In Ireland, he worked with the George Moore Society in Castlebar, Co Mayo on its 1995/96 Famine exhibition.
He had a passion for traditional music, playing the flute and tin whistle. In his London years, he gave concerts at the Irish Club and the old National University of Ireland Club. He toured with Seán Cannon, later of The Dubliners, and the musician and folklorist Mick Moloney.
In the US he performed and lectured widely. Humorous and convivial, he was a well-known figure at traditional sessions. His friends included many poets and writers.
He died while swimming off Martha’s Vineyard, where he had come to perform in the annual Bloomsday celebration.
David is survived by his wife Gail Kuekan O’Docherty, his children from his first marriage Annabel and Michael, and by his sisters Brid and Roisín.
David O’Docherty, born February 3rd, 1935; died June 19th, 2010