He was born on 15 March 1910 at Lubatavish, Glenaan, near Cushendall, the youngest of eight children in a family whose forebears had inhabited the Glens for many generations.
McAuley pursued painting from an early age, in a rural area when farming was one of the main sources of life and income.
A key encounter came in his mid-teens, when the artist James Humbert Craig, who was arts adjudicator at the Feis na nGleann, praised several of his youthful paintings, telling him: "You go ahead with this, and you'll do well."
Nowadays, with the rapid flow of international styles succeeding each other, this is a distinctive title one can seldom confer."
On his death, BBC NI described him as “one of Ireland’s greatest colourists, but most significantly, a true and modest gentleman”.