Nicholas Crowley was born in Dublin and educated at Dublin Society's School. In 1832 he became a student at the Royal Hibernian Academy, and had a portrait in the annual exhibition. The next year, when he was fourteen, he contributed six portraits. He lived in Belfast from 1835 to 1836, and painted portraits. During this period he exhibited 47 pictures at the Royal Academy. In 1836 he was one of the founder members of the Belfast Association of Artists and in 1837 became a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy. In this year he left for London, though he made frequent visits to Belfast. Many of his pictures were owned by Sir Tyrone Guthrie, his great grandson, and the Ulster Museum has a self-portrait.

Born:	6 December 1819
Died:	4 November 1857