Rosemary Smith
Rosemary Smith is a rally driver from Dublin. Her father taught her to drive at the age of 11 in a field in Tallaght. Leaving school at 15, Rosemary trained as a dress designer and model and opened a boutique dressmaking company. Rosemary was asked to navigate for a friend in a rally but soon took over the driving due to her inability to read a map. She went on to drive in the Monte Carlo rally eight times, winning the Coupe des Dames on numerous occasions as well as competing in other iconic events all over the world, including the London to Sydney Marathon Rally in 1968, the World Cup London to Mexico Rally in 1970 and the East African Safari Rally in the 1970s. In a Hillman Imp, Rosemary won the Tulip Rally outright, beating all the male drivers to the finish.
Rosemary is passionate about road safety and in 1999 opened the Rosemary Smith School of Motoring, where she teaches young people to drive. In 2017, at 80 years of age, she became the oldest person to drive a Renault Sports Formula 1 team car.
Ann Ingle
Ann was born in London in 1939 and came to live in Ireland after marrying Peter, who died in 1980. After raising her family of eight, Ann completed a BA(Hons) in English and History at Trinity College Dublin. She has been writing and editing ever since. Ann is currently working on her memoir.