Nicholas Kenneth Robinson (born 9 February 1946) is an Irish
author
In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...
,
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
,
solicitor and cartoonist who is the husband of the 7th
President of Ireland and former
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Mary Robinson.
Background
Robinson was born in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
, Netherlands, in 1946, to a wealthy middle-class Anglican family. He was born to Howard and Lucy Robinson, the third in a family of four boys. His father was an accountant who founded the
City of Dublin Bank and was a prominent
freemason of the
Grand Lodge of Ireland. The Robinson family had been coopers associated with the brewing business of the
Guinness family. Nicholas's grandfather was a coal importer.
While studying for a law degree at
Trinity College Dublin, he began a relationship with his future wife
Mary Robinson (''née'' Bourke), who would later become the
President of Ireland. With his wife Mary, he has one daughter and two sons, and six grandchildren.
Career
Robinson has helped establish numerous bodies, among them the
Irish Architectural Archive (with
Edward McParland), the
Birr Scientific and Heritage Foundation, the
Irish Landmark Trust (of which he is a Trustee, ''ex officio'' President & Patron), and (with his wife Mary) the Irish Centre for European Law at Trinity College. He spent 30 years curating a collection of social and political caricatures which he presented to the
Library of Trinity College Dublin in 1996.
Works
His books include:
* ''Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland'', with the
Knight of Glin and David Griffin (Irish Architectural Archive/Irish Georgian Society, 1988)
* ''Edmund Burke: a Life in Caricature'' (Yale University Press, 1996)
* ''Caricature and the Irish: satirical prints from the Library of Trinity College Dublin, c.1780–1830'' (Four Courts Press, 2024)
References
Sources
* Olivia O'Leary & Helen Burke, ''Mary Robinson: The Authorised Biography'', Lir/Hodder & Stoughton, 1998 ()
External links
The Robinson Collection of Caricaturesat the
Library of Trinity College Dublin, digitise
here* Exhibition
Drawing Your Attention: Four Centuries of Political Caricatures' by the Library of Trinity College Dublin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Nicholas
Living people
Alumni of Trinity College Dublin
Irish Anglicans
20th-century Irish historians
Irish solicitors
Spouses of presidents of Ireland
1946 births
Irish architectural historians