After coming to London from Dublin, Mulready showed early promise when he was admitted at the age of fourteen to the Royal Academy schools in 1800. His pictures were not popular, however, so he earned his living by painting scenery for the London theatres and by teaching. His first success came in 1816 when he submitted and had accepted a painting for the Royal Academy's exhibit. He excelled at domestic scenes, both interior and exterior settings, with women and children. He was also popular as a portrait painter. The detail and the technique of his late pictures was admired by and commended by John Ruskin who said Mulready's work compared favorably with the best masters of Holland (Christopher Wood, I, 369).

Marcia Pointon's Mulready (London; Victoria and Albert Museum, 1986) is an excellent source for the details of his life and work, as well as numerous color plates and illustrations.