The Order’s patroness is Dwina Murphy-Gibb, an artist and writer, born in County Tyrone. She was educated in Northern Ireland and attended Hornsey Art College in England.
Always fascinated by Irish history and mythology, Dwina was co-founder of The Yeats Club which organized poetry competitions and published a literary magazine, Celtic Dawn. She illustrated Sappho of Lesbos: The Poems, translated by Terence DuQuesne (1990) and has published three volumes of poetry: Ergot On The Rye (1988) Butterflies and Drums (1989) and Love Unbound (2003). Dwina is the author of two novels about Cormac mac Airt, a second century High King in Ireland: Cormac: The Seers, and Cormac: The King-Making. Dwina was married to the late musician and song-writer Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees, and was installed as the Order’s Patroness at the bicentennial ceremony held on Primrose Hill in 1992 that commemorated the Gorsedd held there by Iolo Morganwg in 1792. Dwina is particularly interested in fostering Druid scholarship and has played a key role in The Order’s Mount Haemus Award initiative, and in encouraging exploration of the links between Druidry and the ancient religions of India.
