On this day in 1818, Catherine Isabella Osborne, artist and patron, was born at Newtown Anner near Clonmel.
After the death of her father, Catherine became the sole heir to the house and estate at Newtown Anner. She married Ralph Bernal in 1844. Thereafter he assumed the name Bernal Osborne but the marriage does not appear to have been a happy one and he spent much of his time in London.
Catherine kept a lively and cultivated household at Newtown Anner, entertaining artists such as Thomas Shorter Boys, who exhibited his only known Irish Watercolour, painted at Newtown Anner, in 1865 and the celebrated Swiss landscape painter Alexander Calame. She was among Calame’s earliest patrons and may have employed him to instruct her daughters.
She also took an interest in photography and provided support for WD Hemphill, the local doctor and award-winning amateur photographer. He later dedicated his published collection of photographs to Catherine. Hemphill spent a lot of time at Newtown Anner and the attached photo of Catherine was taken by him.
She was herself a talented artist and, during her visits to country houses in both Ireland and England, produced a series of sketchbooks, now in the family home of her daughter at Myrtle Grove, near Youghal. In 1870 she edited and published a two-volume collection of her mother's letters, entitled Memorials of the life and character of Lady Osborne.
She died 21 June 1880 at her home, and was buried in the family vault at Killaloan church.
Source:
https://www.dib.ie/biogr.../osborne-catherine-isabella-a7134
