How the the early life in Limerick of novelist and playwright Kate O'Brien impacted on her work.
Limerick TD Jim Kemmy, describes how Kate O'Brien's upbringing influenced her life and work. Left motherless at the age of five, she spent her youth in Laurel Hill Convent, a boarding school. Kate O'Brien based her novel 'The Land of Spices' (1941) on the 12 years she spent at boarding school.
All her writings and novels are bound up in religion
'Land of Spices' tells the story of a woman who became a nun when she realised her father was involved with another man. The book was banned in Ireland. Another of her novels 'Mary Lavelle' (1936) was also banned. It tells the story of a young Irish governess in Spain, who falls in love with the married son of her employers.
Boru-House, the imposing family home reflects the success of her father's horse-breeding business. Jim Kemmy explains that Kate O'Brien's memories of the house were not happy ones.
This episode of 'Arts Express' was broadcast on 5 February 1991. The reporter is Mary O'Sullivan.
