10 Facts About Rowel Friers

Rowel Boyd Friers MBE PPRUA was a cartoonist, illustrator, painter and lithographer.

Rowel Friers was apprenticed to the Belfast lithographic firm S C Allen and Co, and studied at the Belfast College of Art from 1935 to 1942.

Rowel Friers began concentrating on political cartooning with the advent of The Troubles in the late 1960s.

Rowel Friers's work appeared in Punch, the Radio Times, London Opinion, the Daily Express, the Sunday Independent, Dublin Opinion, the Northern Whig, th News Letter, The Irish Times and the Belfast Telegraph.

Rowel Friers illustrated more than 30 books, including John Pepper's Ulster dialect books and an American edition of the works of W B Yeats.

Rowel Friers was a keen actor and television performer, with a talent for mimicry, serving as President of the Ulster Association of Drama Festivals and appearing regularly on chat shows.

Rowel Friers was President of the Royal Ulster Academy of Arts from 1993 to 1997.

Rowel Friers died in Holywood, County Down on 21 September 1998.

Rowel Friers's funeral was attended by a large crowd, including politicians from both sides of the sectarian divide - the SDLP's Lord Fitt and the DUP leader, the Reverend Ian Paisley.

Rowel Friers is survived by his wife Yvonne, daughter Vivien and sons Jeremy and Timothy.