This obituary was printed in The Irish News and The South Belfast Post


Ivor was born in Lisburn, growing up as a catholic in the middle of a working class protestant housing estate at a time when sectarian strife was at its worst, Ivor suffered terribly from bigotry. This affected his life deeply and was reflected in his work which in later life contained much iconic religious imagery.

As soon as he was able to he left Lisburn for Belfast where he became involved in the alternative music and arts scene. Over the next few years Ivor moved between Belfast and London where he was highly respected as an illustrator and had work published in several cutting edge comics and graphic novels. He then studied at Belfasts York Street Art College where he was held in high esteem by the teaching faculty.

Ivor was seen by all who knew him as a man of immense talent but little ability to apply himself. This onerous burden of unfulfilled potential weighed heavy on him throughout his too short life and although he was respected at the very highest level of the arts establishment sadly his body of work is not as large as it should have been.

Ivor was an erudite man with a great appreciation of literature as well as visual art. He wrote short stories and poetry and was also a teacher who passed on his extensive knowledge of the history of art to many people. Ivor lived the life of an artist and did not look after the practicalities of everyday life or his own health and this certainly contributed to his untimely death.