Kate O’Brien graduated from University College
Dublin with a B.A. degree in 1919, moving to England where she
worked as a free-lance journalist for The Sphere, followed by
a position in the foreign language department of The Manchester
Guardian Weekly. In 1921, O’Brien moved to London, and taught
at St. Mary's Convent in Hampstead for approximately six months
before travelling to the United States as a companion to her sister
Nance and her husband Stephen O'Mara. O’Brien returned from the
States in 1922 but this did not mark the end of her travels, moving
to Spain that same year to work as a governess in Bilbao. O’Brien
taught the children of the Areilza family over a ten-month period,
forming a deep attachment to Spain that was to remain with her for
the rest of her days. Returning to London in 1923, she married a
young Dutchman, Gustaff Renier. However, this union was only to last
eleven months before the couple separated.
Spanning nearly fifty years, Kate O'Brien's
literary career commenced in 1926 with the play 'Distinguished
Villa'. O'Brien's first work was the result of a bet with a friend
that she could write a play within a number of weeks. It was
performed at the Aldwych Theatre in London on 2 May 1926 and was met
with wide acclaim. Several other plays followed in 1927, including
'The Silver Roan', 'The Bridge' and 'Set in Platinum'. It was her
first novel, 'Without My Cloak' (published in 1931), however, that
established O’Brien as a significant Irish writer. A chronicle of
the Considine family, this work was awarded the Hawthornden Prize
and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. In 1934, O'Brien produced
her second novel, 'The Ante-Room'. This was followed two years later
by its unsuccessful adaptation for the stage in London's Queen
Theatre, and in addition, the first of two works to be banned by the
Censorship of Publications Board in Ireland, a novel entitled 'Mary
Lavelle'. Also addressing the subject of Spain is the highly
personal travelogue 'Farewell Spain' published in 1937, largely in
response to the events surrounding the Spanish Civil War. This work
was subsequently banned in Franco's Spain and the author was
forbidden access to the country until 1957 with the intervention of
the Irish Ambassador to Spain. O’Brien’s play 'The Schoolroom
Window' was performed that same year at the Manuscript Theatre Club
in London.
In 1938, O'Brien's fourth novel, 'Pray for the
Wanderer' was published, and followed two years later by 'The Land
of Spices', her second work to be banned in Ireland. O'Brien spent
the early years of the Second World War in Oxford and London,
working for the British Ministry of Information. The writer moved to
Devon in 1942 boarding in the house of novelist, E.M. Delafield, and
over the next year published 'The Last of Summer', which was
performed as a play at the Phoenix Theatre in London and the Gaiety
Theatre in Dublin between 1944 and 1945. The publication 'English
Diaries and Journals' was produced in 1943. O'Brien's seventh novel,
'That Lady', was published in 1946. A great success, this work was
published in North America as 'For One Sweet Grape'. The novel was
adapted for the stage in November 1949, directed by Guthrie
McClintic and starring Katherine Cornell as Ana de Mendoza. The play
opened in the Martin Beck Theatre on Broadway, and in 1955, the
novel was made into a motion picture.
Kate O'Brien returned to live in Ireland in 1950,
buying a handsome property in Roundstone, county Galway. O'Brien
continued to be productive in her new surroundings publishing her
biographical work 'Teresa of Avila' in 1951, followed by her eighth
novel, 'The Flower of May' in 1953. The writer travelled to Rome in
Italy in the early months of 1954 in preparation for what was to
become her ninth and final published novel, 'As Music and
Splendour'. A decade after her move to Roundstone, O'Brien returned
to England, settling in Boughton, Kent. Whilst the 1960s did not
yield any further fictional work, O'Brien produced another
travelogue entitled 'My Ireland' in 1962. A collection of
reminiscences of her early family life entitled 'Presentation
Parlour', followed in 1963. In addition, the writer produced
articles for different publications including her 'Long Distance'
series in The Irish Times. O'Brien was involved with numerous
literary organisations during her lifetime including P.E.N. and the
Comunità Europea degli Scrittori (where she represented Ireland).
Kate O'Brien died in Kent on 13 August 1974, aged 76, leaving behind
a body of unfinished work including her memoirs and what would have
been her tenth novel, 'Constancy'.
Divided into six main sections, the collection
has been arranged thematically and addresses O'Brien's personal
life, literary life, media coverage, printed material, photographic
material and death. The documents have been arranged chronologically
within each section. Section A provides the researcher with a rare
glimpse into O'Brien's personal life with official documentation
including her birth and marriage certificates and passports.
However, this part of the collection also contains more personal
items such as correspondence with family, friends and admirers,
diaries recording appointments and other news, and material relating
to her financial affairs. O'Brien's long-term relationship with
artist Mary O'Neill is reflected in a number of cards and postcards
exchanged between the two women from the late 1940s until the year
of O'Brien's death. Letters from José M. De Areilza, one of O’Brien’s
former students in Bilbao suggest how living and working in Spain
influenced the writer. De Areilza states the following in a letter
dated 26 May 1952, '…this year I went to London for a short trip…and
found at last the famous "Mary Lavelle" which I was
looking for since years ago. You can imagine with what a tremendous
anxiety I went through that pages and the vivid scenes of life in
"Casa-Pilar" at Cabantes, Altorno. The book is really
fascinating. And for me it was still more, because a whole world
which slept in my memories, for years, woke up and dreamt again as
in the golden times of adolescence. Thank you, Miss Kitty, for
bringing to life that dear shadows of my youth!' (P12/8).
O'Brien's diaries, dating from the early 1960s
and covering just over a decade, record the writer's daily
activities, appointments, travel plans, financial dealings and
occasionally more personal information such as the state of her
health or mood. Section A also focuses on O'Brien's financial
affairs. Amongst other documents, a letter to the Collector of Taxes
in London dated 5 June 1963 reveals O'Brien's on-going struggle to
control her finances, '…I am not resident in the British Isles. It
is my intention to live there, but since I sold my house in Ireland
three and a half years ago I have been in very bad circumstances;
have been living as the guest of friends and relatives in Ireland or
in Spain, am unable to pay rent anywhere, and earn only pittances…I
cannot afford to rent even a bed-sitting room' (P12/55).
The most substantial component of the collection
is Section B which addresses O'Brien's literary life, covering her
literary work and dealings with literary agents, publishers, and
literary organisations. It also includes correspondence regarding
the Civil List Pension and O’Brien’s involvement with
educational projects such as the Catholic Youth Encyclopaedia, Irish
Week in the University of Valladolid in Madrid, Spain, and the
Canadian Association for Irish Studies in McGill University in
Montreal, Canada. Of particular interest, however, is O'Brien's
literary work, which is mostly in draft format and often contains
handwritten amendments. This body of material consists of
travelogues, articles, essays and short stories, lectures,
biographies, novels, and material for radio and film. Essays and
short stories in draft format include 'Singapore has fallen' (1942),
'On Ballycottin Strand' (1945), 'Old Balls MacSweeney' (1956),
'Boney Fidey' (1956) and 'Manna' (1962). Also of interest are mostly
typescript drafts of articles produced by O'Brien from her home in
Kent as part of the 'Long Distance' series for the Irish Times,
addressing a variety of issues from Northern Ireland to Charles de
Gaulle. This part of the collection also includes drafts of lectures
for different audiences including the Europea degli Scrittori, Sir
William Gibb School for Girls in Faversham, Canterbury College of
Art, and Association of Professional and Business Women.
Two drafts of ‘Presentation Parlour’, the
author's reminiscences of her aunts, are contained in the
collection. One of these documents reveals a selection of possible
titles for the final publication including 'Presentation Parlour',
'Five Aunts' or 'My Aunts' (P12/170). One of the most interesting
components of this section, however, is the body of material
relating to O'Brien's last novel, 'Constancy', which remained
incomplete at the time of her death. The collection holds both
handwritten and typescript drafts of book one and two of the novel,
each containing their own amendments. O'Brien's interest in poetry
is also reflected in two handwritten drafts of a poem about
Haverstock Hill executed by the author in 1964. The second section
also includes O'Brien's dealings with her literary agents and
publishers and includes contracts with publishers outlining
conditions relating to copyright, royalties, publishing rights and
payments, as well as financial material and correspondence. The
author's involvement with broadcasting bodies such as British
Broadcasting Corporation (B.B.C.), Radio Éireann and Radio Telefís
Éireann (R.T.E.) is also represented in this section. A letter from
Guy Vaesen from the Script Unit of the B.B.C. dated 12 October 1973
refers to the script for 'Pray for the Wanderer', stating 'It has
not been the easiest novel in the world to dramatise and this final
version is the fourth' (P12/217).
Section C focuses on media coverage of Kate
O'Brien in Irish and British newspapers, magazines and periodicals.
This section contains reviews and articles relating to the author's
work dating from the 1920s to the middle of the 1980's, a scrapbook
of press-cuttings from 1927 to 1934, and a number of articles on
other subjects including the death of actress Katherine Cornell, the
Burren in county Clare and politician Cecelia Lynch. In addition,
the third section contains press-cuttings relating to the death of
O'Brien in 1974 in the Irish and British Press. Section D addresses
publications and other printed matter contained in the collection
and includes publications by Kathleen Cunningham, copies of two of
O'Brien's novels, 'Without My Cloak' (which contains the signature
of Mary O'Neill's sister, Elizabeth Hall), and 'Mary Lavelle', a
programme for a bullfight at Plaza de Toros de Madrid, and for the
play 'That Lady' performed at Dipson's Erlanger Theatre in October
1949. In addition, is an essay by O'Brien entitled 'As to University
Life' which includes a handwritten note on the cover of the volume
which reads 'This may amuse you, pet - frightful misprints and all!
It is causing uproar in the Governing Body of U.C.D. - which was my
hope & purpose in writing it' (P12/259).
The photographic component of the collection is
contained in Section E and provides a valuable record of O'Brien's
family life growing up in county Limerick, school days in Laurel
Hill Convent, graduation from University College Dublin, close
relationship with her sister Nance, travels to Spain and other
locations, brief marriage to Gustaff Renier, literary commitments,
life at The Fort in Roundstone, county Galway, move to Kent,
England, and passion for cats. Some of the more memorable images in
the collection include a black and white photograph of O'Brien's
mother Catherine as a beautiful young woman prior to her premature
death from cancer (P12/273), two black and white images of
schoolgirls from Laurel Hill Convent, some of the studio portraits
of O'Brien (P12/390-411), and an image of O’Brien’s husband,
Gustaff Renier (P12/306).
Section F of the collection addresses the
sickness and subsequent death of Kate O'Brien in August 1974, and
includes documentation from Canterbury Hospital relating to her
personal possessions, copies of her death certificate, and
correspondence between family and friends. The administration of the
writer’s estate is also addressed and significant documents
include O’Brien’s last will and testament and a codicil of will.
O'Brien's will appoints Mary O'Neill as Literary Executrix and the
final part of this section focuses on her dealings in this capacity.
The majority of documents held in the collection
are available for public access with the exception of four items
(P12/34, P12/35, P12/479 and P12/480), which have been closed for
set periods because of information that may be considered sensitive
by other parties. The collection is a fascinating record of the life
and career of writer Kate O'Brien, providing not only a
cross-section of her literary output, but also an insight into the
private world of one of Limerick's most prolific daughters. This
body of material is an extremely valuable source for researchers in
Ireland and abroad.
Further material relating to O'Brien is contained
in a collection in the Northwestern University Library’s Special
Collections Department, donated by a Chicago bookseller in 1970.
This includes both manuscripts and published material, consisting of
novels, plays, short stories, articles, talks and letters.
Róisín Berry
