An Féileacán agus an Rí is retelling in Irish of one of Ireland’s most beautiful legends, the story of Éadaoin, turned into a butterfly by a jealous rival for the love of King Mír. Created as a picture book, illustrated by Shona Shirley Macdonald, written by Máire Zepf and and published by Futa Fata December 2019.
An Féileacán agus an Rí was a challenging book to illustrate, as although I love myths, I hadn't illustrated a book with so many human characters in it before. I chose to use models for the main characters (friends and family!) and I'm hugely grateful to them for their help.
Another particular aspect of this book of course is the question of what imaginary time period to set it in, and how to blur the boundaries between real and unreal so that they merge together. I incorporated some of the beautiful patterns from Bronze & Iron age Celts into the illustrations, having visited the National Museum of Archaeology in Dublin a couple of times, and you may indeed spot some famous artefacts in the details.
Illustrations from the book have been exhibited at the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava 2021, and it has been published in Irish, Breton, Romanian, and Laos.
Winner of the Réics Carló Award 2020 - Irish Language Book Award
& Winner of the LAI Book Awards 10-13 Year Category 2021
& Winner of the LAI Book Awards 10-13 Year Category 2021
Review by Fallen Star Stories as part of their 'Why Picture Books Matter' series:
Photo of the Futa Fata launch event in the impressive Dún Laoighaire Library, February 1st 2020.
