Tate Adams studied print at the Central School of Art, London. He moved to Melbourne, Australia in 1952. Adams returned to Ireland in 1959 and began working with Liam Miller of Dolmen Press. His first book of engravings, ‘The Soul Cages’ was published by Dolmen and Adams continued to create linocuts for the press in Melbourne. A champion of printmaking in Australia, Adams established the print department at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and taught there for over twenty years.