Mark O'Neill

Mark O'Neill was born in Lancashire in 1963 to native Irish parents. As a child his family moved around from England to Mauritius, South Africa, Nigeria and Malta, but with all this travel he still studied at Kingston College of Art, London where he graduated with First Class Honors. Originally settling in Ireland in a Millhouse in Killeigh, Co Offaly, followed by a few years in Castledermot, Co Kildare, Mark is now settled with his partner and is restoring a small regency villa in Wexford.

For several years he worked as a high profile illustrator. His clients included Harrods, Guinness, Southern Comfort and Royal Mail. He designed several posters for Warner Brothers that were used worldwide illustrating their feature films including the posters for "The Big Easy" and "Heavenly Pursuits".

Mark's illustration work has also appeared on many book jacket covers including Catherine Cookson, James Herroit, Frederick Raphael, Noel Virtue and many others.

He moved home to Ireland in the late eighties and has had sell-out shows around Ireland in Wexford, Kilkenny, Louth, Killarney and Galway.

He won awards four years running at the Arnotts Portrait Exhibition, Dublin He has also exhibited at the annual "Iontas" exhibition in Sligo and the "Éigse" exhibition in Carlow.

Six of Mark's pictures were included in an exhibition of Irish art in New York, "Ireland: Crossing Borders", Gallery Revel (Sept/Oct 1998) where he was very well received and all his paintings sold.