Henry Saxton Crawford was born in Celbridge, County Kildarein 1867, the son of a gentleman farmer, and educated at TCD. He was elected a member of the Royal Society of Antiquaries in 1904 and contributed many learned articles, illustrated with photographs or drawings, to the societys journal. He died in 1927, shortly after the publication of his book Irish Carved Ornament, which leading archaeologist Michael Herity described as a monument to comparative archaeology. Crawfords huge collection of negatives is housed in the National Museum in Dublin.