Mary Kingston (born 29 May 1970 in Inchydoney,

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...

), is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

presenter and philanthropist. She presented ''The Disney Club'' on

RTÉ Two (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

. She also presented ''Scratch Saturday'' and '' The Works''.

Early life

Kingston grew up in the small seaside area 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 Clonakilty (; ), sometimes shortened to Clon, is a town in County Cork, Ireland. The town is located at the head of the tidal Clonakilty Bay. The rural hinterland is used mainly for dairy farming. The town's population as of 2016 was 4,592. Th ...

Career

In college, she studied Communication studies and graduated with an Honours Degree. After leaving college, she joined Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) as a children's television presenter, and has worked there since. She was an

outside broadcast Outside broadcasting (OB) is the electronic field production (EFP) of television or radio programmes (typically to cover television news and sports television events) from a mobile remote broadcast television studio. Professional video camera a ...

presenter on early Saturday-morning TV show ''Scratch Saturday'', she then presented '' The Works'', a kids science programme, for four years where she became known for her

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

, distinguishable by her regional accent: ''"Are you laughing?"''. She was a regular on ''

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'' before hosting ''The Disney Club'' and ''Mary K in The Loft'' on Sunday mornings. For the next five years she has presented ''The Children of Ireland Awards'' with the then

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the o ...

Bertie Ahern Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste a ...

. In 2003, she took part in '' Celebrity Farm'' on RTÉ. In 2005, she took part in '' The Restaurant''. 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 to Madagascar, it's a compilation of the many Fantastic facts she learned along the way, it includes hundreds of the photos Kingston took and endorses her sentiment "Leave only footprints, take only memories .........and photos!"

Personal life

She has travelled extensively, and holds a PADI Open Water

Scuba Diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for " Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chr ...

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 children who have a diagnosis of AIDS in a reconstructed modern hospital in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

, called Dr Victor Babes. She is the junior patron for the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA).

External links

Mary Kingston - In 10 brief lines
facts compiled on

RTÉ.ie RTÉ.ie is the brand name and home of Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ)'s online activities, located at the URL https://www.rte.ie/. The site began publishing on 26 May 1996. According to RTÉ, it operates on an entirely com ...

page for ''

''
Biography on RTÉ.ie page for TV programme ''Celebrity Farm''

''Far-Flung Facts for Fun''
Mary's 2004 children's book. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kingston, Mary 1970 births Living people Irish children's television presenters Echo Island presenters Participants in Irish reality television series People from County Cork RTÉ television presenters