Mary Kingston

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Mary Kingston (born 1970, Inchydoney, County Cork, Ireland), is a children's television presenter and philanthropist. She is the current presenter of The Disney Club on RTÉ2.

1 Early life
2 Career
3 Personal life
4 External links

[edit] Early life

Kingston grew up in the small village of Inchydoney, the third eldest in a family of eight children. In 1981, after leaving primary school, she started attending the Sacred Heart Secondary School, Convent of Mercy, in nearby Clonakilty.

[edit] Career

Mary's 2004 book Fantastic Far-Flung Facts for Fun

In college, she studied Communication studies and graduated with an Honours Degree. After leaving college, she joined RTÉ as a children's television presenter, and has worked there since. She was an outside broadcast presenter on early Saturday-morning TV show Scratch Saturday where she became known for her catch-phrase, distinguisable by her regional accent; "Are you laughing?". She was a regular on The Den before hosting The Disney Club and The Loft on Sunday mornings. For the past few years she has presented The Children of Ireland Awards.

Kingston has authored a children's book, Fantastic Far-Flung Facts for Fun. The book describes her journey from Africa to Asia to South America and covers the themes of travel and natural history.

[edit] Personal life

Kingston is a strict vegetarian, is married to Brian Graham, and is somewhat of a gay icon. She has travelled extensively, and holds a PADI Open Water Scuba Diving licence.

She has been involved in charity work for a number of organisations involved in the welfare of children and animals. She has spent time working with AIDS children in a reconstructed modern hospital in Bucharest, Romania, called Dr Victor Babes. She is the junior patron for the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA).