Kate O'Brien

Louise Harrington (Cardiff University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.08: English Writing and Culture of the early Twentieth Century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Peter Childs (Birmingham Newman University), Louise McDonald (Birmingham Newman University), Andrew Radford (University of Glasgow)

Dates

Born 3 Dec 1897
Died 13 Aug 1974
Activity 1926-1963

Places

Born in Ireland, Republic of (Eire)
Active in England; Ireland, Republic of (Eire); Spain

Cultural Identities

LGBTQ

Activities

Primary

Novelist
Playwright / Dramatist

Other

Autobiographer
Journalist
Travel writer

Resources

O'Brien's Works

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Born in Limerick on 3 December 1897, Kate O'Brien was the youngest daughter of Thomas and Catherine O'Brien. One of nine children, she was five years old when her mother died of cancer, and she was consequently sent to join her sisters at Laurel Hill convent school in Limerick. She remained at Laurel Hill for fourteen years, and her experiences there later provided the inspiration for her novel

The Land of Spices

. When her father died in 1916, her remaining relatives were anxious for O'Brien to obtain a position in a bank (the family fortune was by this time in decline), but instead she won a scholarship to read English and French at University College Dublin. Graduating in 1919, she moved to England, where she found work as a freelance journalist, later becoming the foreign language…

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1086 words

Citation: Harrington, Louise. "Kate O'Brien". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 March 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5613, accessed 24 November 2024.]