Lady Kate Dobbin was born in Bristol, the daughter of William Wise, a solicitor. In 1887 she married Alfred Graham Dobbin who was knighted in 1900 for his role as High Chief Sheriff of the City of Cork. Lady Dobbin studied at the Crawford Municipal School of Art between 1891 and ’95. She submitted her first picture to the RHA in 1894 and continued to show there until 1947 exhibiting a total of one hundred and five paintings. She worked mainly in watercolour painting, scenes of Cork and the surrounding countryside.