ALAN NOLAN grew up in Windy Arbour, Dublin and now lives in Bray, Co. Wicklow with his wife and three children. Alan is the author and illustrator of Fintan’s Fifteen, Conor’s Caveman and the Sam Hannigan series, and is the illustrator of Animal Crackers: Fantastic Facts About Your Favourite Animals, written by Sarah Webb. Alan runs illustration and writing workshops for children, and you may see him lugging his drawing board and pencils around your school or local library.
Giles Norman is a photographer renowned for his atmospheric and arresting of black and white images. His extensive body of work ranges from dramatic landscapes to bold abstracts and timeless singular images. Giles has also travelled beyond the wild Irish shores, capturing contemporary scenes from the world’s greatest cities. His photographic career began in the early 1980s with a small darkroom in the beautiful town of Kinsale. Both locals and tourists flocked to the tiny window of his studio, and this curiosity encouraged Giles to open his first gallery in 1988, since when his reputation has steadily grown.
Honor Ó Brolcháin is a grand-niece of Joseph Plunkett and has access to the family archives and memorabilia. She is also the author of All In The Blood: A Memoir of Geraldine Plunkett Dillon.
Dublin-based writer, Séamus Ó Conaill teaches in University College Dublin and works for publishers Gill Books. His short fiction has been published in a number of journals, featured on RTÉ Radio, and he has read at many festivals and universities in Ireland, China, Spain and the USA. His work has been short-listed for the Maeve Binchy Award and the Sky Arts Future’s Fund, and long-listed for BBC Radio 4 Opening Lines Short Story Competition. He is the editor of The Dublin Illustrated Edition of Ulysses (The O’Brien Press, 2014).
Liam Ó Donnchú is a native of Hollyford, County Tipperary and now resides near Thurles. After over four decades as a primary school teacher, Liam is director of Lár na Páirce, the museum of Gaelic Games in Thurles. He has been PRO of Semple Stadium for many years. He is a former player, secretary and chairman of Thurles Sarsfields GAA club and is currently vice-president.
He is author of such publications as: Thurles Sarsfields GAA Story Vol 1&2, Tom Semple and The Thurles Blues, Pouldine School-Inné agus Inniu, and co-author of Tipperary’s GAA Ballads, Horse and Jockey- a pictorial record. He has written numerous articles on Gaelic games.
Liam is married to Catherine and they have four adult children: Eoghan, Muireann, Neasa and Kilian.
Dr Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin is an Irish historian and anthropologist specialising in ethnomusicology and currently lecturing in Concordia University, Montréal, where he holds the Johnson Chair in Québec and Canadian Irish Studies. A leading authority on the history of Irish traditional music, he is also an accomplished multi-instrumentalist with several All-Ireland titles on concertina and uilleann pipes to his credit.
