I am an Irish illustrator, cartoonist and lecturer. My political cartoons have appeared regularly in Magill Magazine and trade union magazines such as Work & Life and publications of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU). Some of my cartoons can also be seen on the international political cartoon website Cartoon Movement. My Evolution of the Irish Economy cartoon has been published in a German-language schoolbook by the publishers Klett.  I provided the cartoons for the covers of the Little Book of Irish Political Bullshit and the Little Book of Bailout Bullshit, both by J.D Mangan. I recently participated in a Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interactions Institute study about how professional cartoonists create cartoons based on news content and the process used to summarize data in news articles.

I illustrated the Irish-language children’s book Dhá Chluas Chapaill ar Labhraí Loingseach by Eithne Ní Ghallchobhair  and the language text book Enjoy Irish, by the same author. I recently provided the cartoons for the new Irish-language activities book for teachers, Gníomhaíochtaí Gasta, which has just been published by Gaelchultúr and can be purchased here. I have illustrated greeting cards for Creative Bond Cards and cartoons of mine have been published in Midlands Arts and Culture Magazine and Rabble. In the past I also did educational cartoons for King’s College, Spain and science-fiction/fantasy illustrations such as this one, which can be seen on the website of the Hugo award-winning author Michael Swanwick.

I can create caricatures and portraits to order, please contact me here for further information.

I am originally from Athlone, in the Irish midlands. I lived in Madrid for many years, where I studied illustration at the Escuela Superior de Dibujo Profesional (ESDIP) . I now live in Kilmainham, Dublin. As well as working as a cartoonist and illustrator I lecture at Dublin Business School. I have also given ‘how to draw comics’ workshops to children and lectures on the political cartoon in 19th century Ireland. I had an exhibition of political cartoons in the Bastion Gallery in Athlone as part of the 2011 Athlone Literary Festival and I have given two  slide show presentations of my political cartoons and illustrations at the Kilmainham Arts Club.

You can read more about my work here in a recent article from the Advertiser group of newspapers. I also recently did an interview on the Wisconsin Public Radio Ideas Network, which is can be heard here. 

• “There is a warmth to Donal’s work that is engaging – a vivacity and divilish optimism that is refreshing in an age of snide cynicism.” 

Manchán Magan, author and television presenter

 

• “Donal’s creativity, sharp sense of satire and technical skill have made the job of including this type of content much simpler than we had hoped. His contribution to the development of our magazine Work & Life has been very significant and it is a relationship we hope to continue.”

Niall Shanahan, Communications Officer – Impact trade union

 

• “Donal Casey’s political cartoons are unique, insightful and humorous “

Fionnuala O’Conner  – Athlone Literary Festival

 

• “There is no doubt either that young readers will be charmed by the full-colour illustrations by Donal Casey; they are excellent.”

Pól Ó Muirí - Irish Times: writing about the Irish-language children’s book Dhá Chluas Capaill ag Labhraí Loingseach.

 

• “Donal was the cartoonist on our Irish Language course book  ‘Enjoy Irish’ . I recommend him highly for the quality of his work, its uniqueness, clarity and his delivery of the service required on time.”

Liam Ó Cuinneagáin, Director –Oideas Gael 

 

• “Donal created four illustrations for CreativeBond’s My IOU to You gift voucher. He delivered the illustrations on time for a good price and I was delighted with them. I’d be very happy to recommend Donal to anyone.”

Lindsay Bond O’Neill  – Director,  Creative Bond – Greeting Cards.

 

•  ”Donal’s workshop for children on ‘How to Draw a Comic Strip’ was pitched at exactly the right level for my seven and eight-year-olds and was very enjoyable for all. With Donal’s guidance we produced some great comic strips of our own!” 

Jennifer Porter – Teacher, St. Thomas’ Junior National School, Dublin