Rena Dardis (January 1924 - 6 January 2017), was the publisher and founder of Anvil Press and The Children’s Press.

Early life

Born Katherina (Rena) Dardis in

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

in January 1924 to Christopher Patrick Dardis, a school inspector from

Kinnegad Kinnegad or Kinagad () is a town in County Westmeath, Ireland. It is on the border with County Meath, near the junction of the M6 and the M4 motorways - two of Ireland's main east–west roads. It is roughly 60 km from the capital, Dublin ...

, Co Westmeath, and Sara Teresa Conwell, the daughter of a farmer from

Killybegs Killybegs () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is the largest fishing port in the country and on the island of Ireland. It is located on the south coast of the county, north of Donegal Bay, near Donegal Town. Its Irish name ''Na Cealla Bea ...

, Co Donegal. She had an older sister, Margaret. Her family moved to Dublin and lived on Palmerstown Road,

Rathmines Rathmines () is an affluent inner suburb on the Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It lies three kilometres south of the city centre. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to t ...

, where Dardis continued to live until she required specialised care in 2009. Her parents had three more children after their arrival in Dublin; triplets Christopher, Rachel and John. Dardis was sporty, playing tennis at Brookfield Tennis Club and golf in Milltown Golf Club.

Career

She started work in

Guinness Brewery St. James's Gate Brewery is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland, by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo, a company formed from the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997. The main product of the brewery is ...

. However she was not happy with the ability for women to progress there and soon moved on to a career in advertising and became director and copywriter with O’Kennedy Brindley. From 1969 to 1971 she was President of the Institute of Creative Advertising and Design.

Publishing

In 1962 Dardis was part of the team that founded Anvil Press. Her partners were Seamus McConville and Dan Nolan. Anvil established itself with memoirs and the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

. Dardis continued to run the Press after the death of her partner Dan Nolan. She was one of those who lobbied for funding for a children's press in the 1980s. When she succeeded she started the Children's Press. For her work on children's books, in 1996 Dardis received the Children’s Books Ireland Award. In 2009 their titles were bought by

Mercier Press Mercier Press is a publisher based in Cork, Ireland. It is the longest established independent Irish publishing house. History The company was founded in 1944 by Seán Feehan, and initially published religious books. In 1946 they published ''Thi ...

. Dardis was an early believer in making her writers the star of the process and encouraged them to interact with their readers.

Death

Dardis died on 6 January 2017 at Leeson Park Nursing Home.

References and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dardis, Rena 1924 births 2017 deaths People from Kilkenny (city) Writers from Dublin (city) Irish publishers (people) Women in advertising