Escaping the Prince

Lorraine O’Byrne (née Barry) was an Irish author of children’s stories and adult fiction. Inspired by her childhood in rural Ireland, Lorraine distilled her interest in fairies, pixies and other supernatural creatures into her children’s stories such as The Hippity, Dippity Witch and Lucy Pebble’s Miracle. Lorraine’s first adult fiction was The Wrath of Voodoo in 2004, about a young Irish teacher who went on an adventure to Kenya. Despite an interest in the supernatural, Lorraine always brought her trademark humour to her writing, as 2015’s Escaping the Prince testifies. Lorraine graduated from the University of Limerick with a BA in Languages, History and Sociology, before obtaining a diploma in freelance journalism and an MA in Creative Writing, also from UL, where her tutor was bestselling Irish author Donal Ryan. Like so many Irish writers before her, from WB Yeats to Edna O’Brien, Lorraine was inspired by Ireland’s natural landscapes and succeeded in seeing the ordinary in the extraordinary. Her book Poppy the Cygnet was inspired by the numerous swans that visit the beautiful lake of Lough Gur each year, where Lorraine worked as a tour guide. Lorraine spent her final years working as a carer for the elderly in her community while she lived on a farm in Co Limerick, with her beloved husband Donal, and their cherished family pets. Lorraine enjoyed many outdoor pursuits such as hill walking and horse riding. The rural chimes of farm life proved stimulating for her imagination, as it was here, she completed her final novel, I Will Find You, a story of a long-buried secret seen through a supernatural prism.