Larkin Emma

My name is Emma Larkin, and I am the founder of "Emma Larkin Books" and "Rebel in Kerry Press". I have recently written and published my first book "Izzy's Magical Football Adventure", and I hope to write many more books about Izzy and her adventures in sport. As may be evident from the name of my publishing imprint, I am a "Rebel in Kerry"! This means that I am originally from County Cork in Ireland, which is known as the Rebel County, but I moved to Kerry (another county in Ireland which...See more

My name is Emma Larkin, and I am the founder of "Emma Larkin Books" and "Rebel in Kerry Press". I have recently written and published my first book "Izzy's Magical Football Adventure", and I hope to write many more books about Izzy and her adventures in sport. As may be evident from the name of my publishing imprint, I am a "Rebel in Kerry"! This means that I am originally from County Cork in Ireland, which is known as the Rebel County, but I moved to Kerry (another county in Ireland which neighbours Cork) in 2006 and have been happily living in Kerry since then, with my husband and four children. My husband is a Kerry native and we live in North Kerry, near Listowel, where my husband is from, and is an area which is rich is literary history! I have always enjoyed reading and writing. Writing essays was my favourite part of primary school! In my spare time, I love to run. I am very involved in my local parkrun in Listowel. I also coach ladies' football at underage level with my local ladies' football club and did attempt to play ladies football for a few years with my local "Gaelic4Mothers&Others Team"! I may not have been the greatest football player, but I could run! And it was an hour each week where I could exercise in a fun environment with a fantastic group of women, who I remain friends with to this day. My inspiration to write this book was my grandmother, Maureen Hennebry, née Cashman. She was on the Cork camogie team which won the All-Ireland Camogie Championship three times in row between 1939 and 1941. She came from a family rich in GAA history, the Cashman's of Blackrock in Cork, and is even mentioned in a poem by the famous Irish poet, Patrick Kavanagh called "Camogie Match" In hindsight, I am in awe of the fact that my grandmother and her teammates played camogie at such a high level at a time in Ireland, where a woman's role was predominantly to be a wife and homemaker. Which comes to my reason for writing this book, my grandmother was my inspiration to write it, but my reason for writing it was to encourage all young girls to play sports. It is crucial for our wellbeing and development and we need to make it as normal for girls to play sport as it is for boys. The growing popularity of women's sports in Ireland and further afield is so encouraging and we need to continue to develop this. As the current 20*20 campaign says, "if she can't see it, she can't be it". I hope that my book can in some way help to normalise girls playing football and that both boys and girls will enjoy reading about Izzy's adventures! See less