Kathleen Watkins & Margaret Anne Suggs

Kathleen Watkins was a well-known harpist and folk singer when she became the first continuity announcer to appear on screen on Telefís Éireann’s launch night in 1960. She married the broadcaster Gay Byrne and lived for many years in Howth where the Pigín stories are set. Although her Pigín stories have been told many times, this is her first book. Kathleen has served on the board of the Arts Council of Ireland and National Gallery of Ireland. In recent years she has done poetry readings in the National Library and National Gallery of Ireland.

Margaret Anne loves to draw and her passion is picture books. For a while she did product illustration for a clock company… but that’s a story for another time. Now her detailed drawings are peppered with cats and ladybirds that bring stories to life. Margaret Anne was born and raised in the American deep South, but later moved to Dublin, Ireland where she completed her Master’s Degree at the National College of Art and Design. Currently, Margaret Anne is the Promotions Officer for Illustrators Ireland, a dynamic group of professional illustrators working to promote their craft. When she is not drawing, painting and making things, she teaches as a lecturer in the Illustration department at Ballyfermot College of Further Education where she founded the Illustration course. Margaret Anne lives in County Dublin, near the sea with her dashing husband, two amazing sons and a whiny cat. She is never too busy to eat chocolate.