Margaret Holmes Irish

Margaret D. (Holmes) Irish, a painter and illustrator, was born in the province of Ontario to a physician and school teacher. She first came to the United States in 1888 where she studied in the art department at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Relocating to St. Louis, Missouri in 1890, Irish continued her arts education at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts (now Washington University).

Irish became an established member of multiple artist organizations including the Art Students’ Association, the St. Louis Art League, the Twentieth Century Art Club (St. Louis), the Woman’s Art League of St. Louis, the St. Louis Society of Independent Artists, the Society of Ancients, and the American Federation of Artists. As a deeply-embedded member of St. Louis's local arts community with a knack for teaching, Irish was often called upon to lecture on art topics to fellow club women.

Throughout her artistic career, Irish participated in a wide range of shows including the St. Louis Art League’s annual Thumb-Box exhibitions (submitting works such as Suburban Hills, St. Louis and Wheat Shocks), multiple Missouri State Fairs (submitting works such as My Neighbor’s Garden, Portrait and Atmosphere of Summer), and many other exhibitions associated with local artist organizations and St. Louis institutions such as the City Art Museum and the St. Louis School of Fine Arts.

As an instructor, Irish taught at South Dakota State College in Brookings and Drury College in Springfield, Missouri, while serving as a judge for student art shows at her alma mater, Washington University in St. Louis. She also taught briefly at the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis where she worked to create illustrations for botany books while living with her husband onsite in staff housing.

Irish died in St. Louis on February 7, 1939.