Sarah Purser

Sarah Purser
Born	22 March 1848 Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire), County Dublin, Ireland
Died	7 August 1943 Dublin, Ireland
Resting place	Mount Jerome Cemetery, Dublin, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Alma mater	Metropolitan School of Art, Académie Julian
Known for	First female member of the Royal Hibernian Academy
Movement	stained glass movement

Sarah Henrietta Purser (22 March 1848 - 7 August 1943) was an Irish artist mainly noted for her work with stained glass.

She was born in Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire) in County Dublin, and raised in Dungarvan, County Waterford. She was educated in Switzerland and afterwards studied at the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin and in Paris at the Académie Julian.

She worked mostly as a portraitist. She was also associated with the stained glass movement, founding a stained glass workshop, An Túr Gloine, in 1903. Some of her stained glass work was commissioned from as far as New York, including a window at Christ Church, Pelham dedicated to the memory of Katharine Temple Emmet and Richard Stockton Emmet, grandson of the Irish patriot, Thomas Addis Emmet. Through her talent and energy, and owing to her friendship with the Gore-Booths, she was very successful in obtaining commissions, famously commenting

In 1977 Bruce Arnold noted

Sarah Purser became wealthy through astute investments, particularly in Guinness. She was very active in the art world in Dublin and was involved in the setting up of the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, persuading the Irish government to provide Charlemont House to house the gallery.

In 1923 she became the first female member of the Royal Hibernian Academy.

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