T.P. Flanagan was born in Enniskillen in 1929 and studied at the Belfast College of Art from 1949-53. In 1954 he began teaching at St. Mary’s College of Education and remained there for 28 years, eventually becoming Head of the Art Department. He was renowned for his distinctive watercolours and landscapes. He was awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of Ulster in 2010 in recognition of his contribution to art.

Flanagan’s work is represented in the collections of Ulster Museum, The Arts Councils of Ireland & Northern Ireland, Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin, Irish Museum of Modern Art, and the National Self-Portrait Collection, Limerick.

With his stunning watercolours and intricate brush strokes, he was one of the most successful artists of his generation.

For more than 60 years he shaped the face of landscape painting in Northern Ireland and was known internationally for his rural scenes of his native Fermanagh and Sligo.