Purser was born in Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin in 1848 as the daughter of a flour miller and brewer. She was educated in Switzerland before moving to Dublin to study at the Metropolitan School of Art, where she soon became a prominent portraitist. She was made an honorary member of the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1890 and later became the first woman full member in 1924.

Purser's portraits were renowned for their extraordinary attention to detail and her ability to convey the inner emotional truths of her subjects. They were so popular, in fact, that Purser would later remark that she 'went through the British Aristocracy like the measles'. She also painted prominent Irish figures such as W.B Yeats, Jack Yeats and Roger Casement.

Jellett was born in Dublin in 1897 as the daughter of a prominent lawyer. Her background afforded her a private art education from the age of 11, with Elizabeth Yeats and Sarah Cecilia Harrison being among her first teachers. She later studied at the Metropolitan School of Art, Dublin where she became heavily influenced by William Orpen. In the 1920s, she met her close friend Evie Hone in London and the two would go together to learn abstract and cubism techniques under Albert Gleizes in Paris.

Jellett is credited for trying her hand at many artistic movements, but primarily for bringing abstract art to Irish audiences. Scholars often ponder how much more influence she could have had if cancer had not cut her life tragically short in 1944.

Kyle was born in Craigavad, Co. Down in 1865. Her father was a Scottish linen tradesman, who supplied materials to prominent figures such as Queen Victoria. Her sheltered childhood came to an abrupt halt when she went to study at the Académie Colarossi, Paris at just 18 years old.

She later became a member of the Belfast Art Society and first exhibited with them in 1894. She would be elected president of the organisation four times over the course of the 1920s. Her works would be shown in Ireland, Scotland, France and Belgium.

Kyle became well known for urban landscapes and busy scenes; primarily markets and harbours. Her works have been praised for their ability to inject character into what would be mundane scenes in less deft hands.

Harrison was born in Holywood, Co. Down in 1863. Her father was an Irish Nationalist MP, and her mother was the daughter of an MP for Belfast. The family later relocated to London where Harrison would study at the Slade School of Fine Art before continuing her studies in Italy, Paris and Amsterdam. After moving to Dublin in 1904, she became one of Ireland's leading portraitists with her works being admired for their precision and realism.

In addition to an artistic career, Harrison continued the family tradition of entering political office. During the First World War, she became first woman councillor for the Dublin Corporation. She used her position to advocate for women's rights and extending the reach of poor relief.

Clarke was born in Newry, Co. Down in 1888 as the daughter of Patrick Crilly, a hackler for Ireland's booming flax trade. She initially studied at the Newry Municipal Technical School before gaining a scholarship to the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin. She would marry her classmate Harry Clarke in 1914 and would adopt his surname on her paintings from then on. When her husband died in 1931, she took over as director of his stained glass studio.

Clarke would also take over William Orpen's still life class, having previously become his teaching assistant after showing such promise throughout her studies. Outside of the classroom, she excelled as a detailed portraitist in her own right, painting such figures as Eamon de Valera.

Hone was born in Roebuck Grove, Co. Dublin in 1894 into a family that had a long tradition of producing renowned European artists. One of her ancestors as far back as the 16th Century created stained glass pieces, which Hone would also become known for. She studied at the Westminster School of Art and Central School of Art in London after the First World War. She would then go to Paris with her new friend Mainie Jellett to study cubism and abstract concepts under Albert Glenzies in the 1920s.

Like Jellett, Hone became more interested in form, colour and movement than identifiable subjects in her art at this time. She would later apply these principles to the almost fifty stained glass window commissions she completed throughout her career.

Maccabe was born in Randalstown, Co. Antrim in 1918. She studied fashion design at the Belfast College of Art from 1934-38, but soon became known for her talent at painting. She was a member of the Contemporary Ulster Group and would become the founder of the Ulster Society of Women Artists in 1957. In 2000, she was awarded an MBE for her services to the arts.

One of Maccabe's favourite subjects in art was crowd scenes, in large part due to their representation of individual and mobilised 'bees in the hive' movements; within and beyond the confines of the canvas. This interest would influence her 'Troubles' artworks, which often depicted crowd reactions in the midst of the Northern Irish civil conflict of 1969-1998.

McGuinness was born in Derry/Londonderry in 1903 as the daughter of a coal merchant father and mother from a farming background. She studied at the Londonderry Technical School and the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin under Harry Clarke among others. She later went to Paris to work under André Lhote. She became president of the Irish Exhibition of Living Art upon Jellett's death in 1944.

Upon returning to London in the 1920s, McGuinness did illustration works for W.B. Yeats and became sought after in the discipline thereafter. Combined with her experience in designing sets for Yeat's plays, this gave McGuiness the unique ability to fully immerse the viewer in the worlds of her subsequent paintings through sublime colour and character.

Boyle was born in Bangkok in 1908 to Irish parents. They would return to the North when she was 1 year old to live in Limavady, Co. Derry/Londonderry. After her father passed away, the family moved to London where Boyle would study at the Byam Shaw School of Art. She would spend time living in Mykonos and other areas of Europe before eventually settling in Dublin.

Boyle painted a wide variety of subjects, including landscapes, still life and animals. After settling back in Ireland, however, she became especially interested in rural working life in the North and South. These works generally had somewhat of a political connotation to them and refused to downplay the hardships of the depicted labour in favour of a romanticised aesthetic.

Graham was born in Belfast, Co. Antrim in 1951. She studied at the Cambridge House School in Ballymena before attending the College of Art and Design in Belfast from 1970-1974. She became a Royal Ulster Academy Arts Associate in 1978, a full member in 1980 and finally the president of the academy from 2004-07. Over the course of her career, Graham's works have exhibited in Dublin, as well as the exhibitions of the RUA and Royal Hibernian Academy.

Graham has been recognised as a precise and detailed portraitist, with her subjects including politicians such as the former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson and musicians like flautist James Galway. Graham's portraits have been praised for their diligent attention to light and shadow.

Duffy was born in Belfast,. Co. Antrim in 1959. She studied her undergraduate and postgraduate studies in fine art at the Belfast College of Art and Design from 1978-82 and 1985/86.

Much of Duffy's work has taken a surrealist aesthetic, though she has never been confined to one style or discipline. The common thread through most of her works, however, is the idea of art as a force for change. She has touched on themes of Irish identity, politics and feminism.

Duffy would also become known for her 'Troubles' artworks, which have explored violence during the conflict and cultural trauma as a result of it. Many of these works are now held in the permanent collection of the Imperial War Museum as well as the Ulster Museum.