Don Conroy was visiting his uncle’s farm in Co Laois as a child when he first saw what was to go on and become the nature enthusiast’s favourite animal.
“We went out one evening checking the cattle. It was about 10pm and I heard this strangled scream. My uncle said, ‘Don’t worry, that’s not the banshee, that’s the white owl’. There was this mist hanging over the field,” Don recalls, his voice full of character and drama.
“Two minutes later this beautiful barn owl, which I didn’t actually know was called a barn owl at the time, flitted over. It flew over my head and it was almost as if it said, ‘You will remember me’. Just seeing this little ghostly form coming through the mist was amazing.”
It was the start of an enduring relationship between Don and the barn owl. He has gone on to base many children’s books on the animal and his owl drawings are renowned.
Inspiring young minds
With many strings to his bow, Don is an artist, writer, presenter and environmentalist. A lot of readers will remember the Dubliner from his time on The Den.
The longest-serving cast member on the cult classic RTÉ children’s show, Draw with Don was a consistent slot, inspiring creativity in children across the country during the 80s, 90s and into the 00s. This was at a time when most households had two to four channels, meaning the viewership was unrivalled.
To this day Don, who himself has five grown-up children, is still playing his part in engaging children with art and nature; he has teamed up with fellow children’s author Emma-Jane Leeson as the illustrator on her new book to be released in August, Johnny Magory and the Forest Fleadh Cheoil.
The aim of the Adventures of Johnny Magory series is to get children interested in exploring the outdoors and also to promote Irish wildlife and heritage. The idea of the animals having a Fleadh Cheoil was inspired by Emma-Jane’s love of traditional Irish music and also because she feels the Fleadh is an integral part of Irish heritage.
Emma-Jane Leeson and Don Conroy.
In getting children involved in nature, Don feels basic measures are most effective. “Sometimes the simplest way is the best. Just by taking a child for a walk and letting them see butterflies, ladybirds or birds flying around the place, these things can awaken so much.
“These lovely childhood memories can stay with us and if something is pointed out to us, it can enrich our lives. You see the thing about nature is, nature operates at the corner of your eye. So for the most part you need to go and look for it. It is not like a neon sign saying, ‘I’m here, I’m here’.”
Discover with Don
For Don as an artist, nature and creativity are inexplicably linked, as it is primarily the natural world that inspires him. At a time when we are exposed to information overload, Don feels we have to nurture what sparks creativity, whether it be music, writing, art or whatever else.
“When children play, they are being creative, that’s what their play is all about. Whether they are trying to climb into a box, playing around with pebbles or picking up twigs, they are discovering the feel, texture and all that. It is all going in, they are like sponges. I think that’s so important.
“When a child starts a drawing they scribble on a piece of paper. You say to them, ‘What’s in the picture?’ ‘That’s mummy, daddy and my sister. They are going to the supermarket’. To you it looks like a spider ran across the page, but they are actually telling a whole story through the drawing.”
Selfie station
Looking back on The Den, Don says he loved the buzz of live TV and all the madness it created among the cast. Once he and Ray D’Arcy had a tiger cub on the show, which went so far as to clamp its jaws around Don’s neck. Another example of their whacky ways is when Don would knock over the water while painting and just laugh it off.
“You were being beamed into someone’s house, so it was a very privileged position to be in; in somebody’s sitting room. We were literally able to talk to somebody in Wexford, Galway, Donegal or wherever, in kind of a chatty way, as if we were speaking directly to them.
“People would say to me, ‘How do you win against Dustin and Zig and Zag?’ The truth was I never did, I was always the fall guy,” he laughs.
Don is a prime example of how you can open up a world of imagination to children. This influence stays with children long after they can be still classed as such. That fact is proven by how many adults now approach Don for selfies.
Read more
Mike McCormack: the Mayo marvel
Carol Drinkwater, the olive queen
Don Conroy was visiting his uncle’s farm in Co Laois as a child when he first saw what was to go on and become the nature enthusiast’s favourite animal.
“We went out one evening checking the cattle. It was about 10pm and I heard this strangled scream. My uncle said, ‘Don’t worry, that’s not the banshee, that’s the white owl’. There was this mist hanging over the field,” Don recalls, his voice full of character and drama.
“Two minutes later this beautiful barn owl, which I didn’t actually know was called a barn owl at the time, flitted over. It flew over my head and it was almost as if it said, ‘You will remember me’. Just seeing this little ghostly form coming through the mist was amazing.”
It was the start of an enduring relationship between Don and the barn owl. He has gone on to base many children’s books on the animal and his owl drawings are renowned.
Inspiring young minds
With many strings to his bow, Don is an artist, writer, presenter and environmentalist. A lot of readers will remember the Dubliner from his time on The Den.
The longest-serving cast member on the cult classic RTÉ children’s show, Draw with Don was a consistent slot, inspiring creativity in children across the country during the 80s, 90s and into the 00s. This was at a time when most households had two to four channels, meaning the viewership was unrivalled.
To this day Don, who himself has five grown-up children, is still playing his part in engaging children with art and nature; he has teamed up with fellow children’s author Emma-Jane Leeson as the illustrator on her new book to be released in August, Johnny Magory and the Forest Fleadh Cheoil.
The aim of the Adventures of Johnny Magory series is to get children interested in exploring the outdoors and also to promote Irish wildlife and heritage. The idea of the animals having a Fleadh Cheoil was inspired by Emma-Jane’s love of traditional Irish music and also because she feels the Fleadh is an integral part of Irish heritage.
Emma-Jane Leeson and Don Conroy.
In getting children involved in nature, Don feels basic measures are most effective. “Sometimes the simplest way is the best. Just by taking a child for a walk and letting them see butterflies, ladybirds or birds flying around the place, these things can awaken so much.
“These lovely childhood memories can stay with us and if something is pointed out to us, it can enrich our lives. You see the thing about nature is, nature operates at the corner of your eye. So for the most part you need to go and look for it. It is not like a neon sign saying, ‘I’m here, I’m here’.”
Discover with Don
For Don as an artist, nature and creativity are inexplicably linked, as it is primarily the natural world that inspires him. At a time when we are exposed to information overload, Don feels we have to nurture what sparks creativity, whether it be music, writing, art or whatever else.
“When children play, they are being creative, that’s what their play is all about. Whether they are trying to climb into a box, playing around with pebbles or picking up twigs, they are discovering the feel, texture and all that. It is all going in, they are like sponges. I think that’s so important.
“When a child starts a drawing they scribble on a piece of paper. You say to them, ‘What’s in the picture?’ ‘That’s mummy, daddy and my sister. They are going to the supermarket’. To you it looks like a spider ran across the page, but they are actually telling a whole story through the drawing.”
Selfie station
Looking back on The Den, Don says he loved the buzz of live TV and all the madness it created among the cast. Once he and Ray D’Arcy had a tiger cub on the show, which went so far as to clamp its jaws around Don’s neck. Another example of their whacky ways is when Don would knock over the water while painting and just laugh it off.
“You were being beamed into someone’s house, so it was a very privileged position to be in; in somebody’s sitting room. We were literally able to talk to somebody in Wexford, Galway, Donegal or wherever, in kind of a chatty way, as if we were speaking directly to them.
“People would say to me, ‘How do you win against Dustin and Zig and Zag?’ The truth was I never did, I was always the fall guy,” he laughs.
Don is a prime example of how you can open up a world of imagination to children. This influence stays with children long after they can be still classed as such. That fact is proven by how many adults now approach Don for selfies.
Read more
Mike McCormack: the Mayo marvel
Carol Drinkwater, the olive queen
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