Caitlín Higgins Ní Chinnéide is Ireland’s Consul General to the South Western United States. Immediately prior to this role, Ms. Higgins Ní Chinnéide served as Deputy Head of Mission in Ireland’s Embassy in Mexico.

Ms Higgins Ní Chinnéide joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland in 2012 as Desk Officer for Eastern Europe. Since then she has served in a number of positions including Deputy Director of the UN Policy Unit; Deputy Director of the Conflict Resolution Unit; and Consul in the Embassy of Ireland in Madrid.

Ms. Higgins Ní Chinnéide holds a BA in Modern History and Politics from the University of Oxford, and an MPhil and PhD in Modern Irish History from Trinity College Dublin; she was also called to the Irish Bar in 2014. Ms Higgins Ní Chinnéide hails from Dublin, and is a fluent Irish and Spanish speaker.

Councilwoman Ann O’Brien embodies the spirit of community and care that St. Brigid championed. A Phoenix native, she has deep roots in public service—starting as a classroom volunteer at her children’s school before being
elected to the Deer Valley Unified School District for two terms, and finishing as Governing Board President.

Today, Councilwoman O’Brien brings that same spirit to Phoenix City Hall, where she chairs the Economic Development and the Arts Subcommittee and serves on the Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee, along with the Community Services and Education Subcommittee.

Councilwoman O’Brien was recognized with a 2025 Arizona Capitol Times Women Achievers Award for spearheading a specialized municipal court to address homelessness with dignity, launching a citywide Emergency Lockbox Program for seniors and residents with disabilities, and releasing a comprehensive Housing Solutions Plan with more than 30 proposals to improve affordability.

A proud ASU Sun Devil, Councilwoman finds renewal in time with her husband Terry, their children, and their granddaughter.

A transplant from north Jersey near fifty years ago, Lynn has been a member of the Irish Cultural Center in Phoenix for over twenty years, knew its founders; was in awe with all they were doing and hoped to do. She had discovered the Center upon her return from a summer of study at Queens University Belfast. A high school teacher then, she served as an ICC docent on Saturdays, was a member of Patricia Prior’s Celtic Crafters for more than 10 years and frequently, a featured ‘artist for the month’ at that time. A local artisan and author of Arizona mysteries, Lynn explores Celtic wisdom and imagery, quotes from the ancients and holy ones of old Eire, transforming all of it into art with calligraphy, paper and fabric. She includes, as well, themes that arise from the Sonoran Desert and stories her many Hispanic high school students told her in her days as a teacher of art, theology, US Govt/History in both the Phoenix Catholic Diocesan School System and Phoenix Union HS District for near forty years.

Lynn holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education and Masters in Urban Education and Policy Studies from Seton Hall University, So. Orange, New Jersey and a second Masters in Theology from the University of San Francisco Jesuit University. She is/was certificated to teach in Secondary Education Social Studies, Art, English, English as a Second Language and Religious Studies for the Catholic School System.

Retired now, Lynn has devoted herself to her art with her own Llyndragon Studio, a Celtic- Sonoran arts/writing studio which will be offering art and journaling retreats in the coming new year.
She has taught in the ICC Academy of Celtic Studies and at present moderates an ICC affiliate,
The Celt Raven Society, devotees of Celt Art History/Archaeology. Lynn’s Brit/Welsh/Irish ancestry is often reflected in her love for the versatile Saint Brigid; a maker of Brigid Art, she views the ICC as a place where so much in the arts and Celt culture can be brought to life.