Drury, Susannah (died 1770)

One of the earliest and best-known Irish women artists. With a celebrated pair of paintings of the Giant's Causeway, County Antrim (1739; Ulster Museum, Belfast, Northern Ireland) Drury made a significant contribution to the tradition of topographical landscape painting in Ireland. These paintings are also of interest as the earliest to accurately depict the Causeway, then becoming a popular attraction for tourists.

Drury came from an Anglo-Irish family which had been established in Dublin since the 16th century. Although nothing is known of her artistic training, her highly detailed technique and her accomplished use of the medium of gouache suggest she may have trained as a miniature painter. In 1740 she was awarded a premium of £25 by the Dublin Society. She was the first woman to receive such official recognition, and this was the first time such an award was made for landscape painting in Ireland.