Kate Cruise O'Brien
Encyclopedia
Kate Cruise O'Brien was an Irish writer.
The third and youngest child of the politician and diplomat Conor Cruise O'Brien
, she was born in Dublin, and grew up in Howth. She went to school in Dublin and studied English in Trinity College Dublin. Her mother, Christine Foster, came from Derry City.
While still at university she published her first short story and shortly afterwards, at the age of 22 she won the Hennessy Literary Award. She graduated in 1971 and married Joseph Kearney, son of a former secretary to the Department of Defence. She returned to university to study for a Higher Diploma in Education. Unable to find a teaching post she started a small nursery for the children of working mothers.
Her first book, A Gift Horse, a collection of short stories, won her the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature
. Sean O'Faolain described it as containing "the seed of genius". She later became a literary editor with the Poolbeg Press, and became well known for her canny knack of uncovering new talent.
The third and youngest child of the politician and diplomat Conor Cruise O'Brien
Conor Cruise O'Brien
Conor Cruise O'Brien often nicknamed "The Cruiser", was an Irish politician, writer, historian and academic. Although his opinion on the role of Britain in Northern Ireland changed over the course of the 1970s and 1980s, he always acknowledge values of, as he saw, the two irreconcilable traditions...
, she was born in Dublin, and grew up in Howth. She went to school in Dublin and studied English in Trinity College Dublin. Her mother, Christine Foster, came from Derry City.
While still at university she published her first short story and shortly afterwards, at the age of 22 she won the Hennessy Literary Award. She graduated in 1971 and married Joseph Kearney, son of a former secretary to the Department of Defence. She returned to university to study for a Higher Diploma in Education. Unable to find a teaching post she started a small nursery for the children of working mothers.
Her first book, A Gift Horse, a collection of short stories, won her the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature
Rooney Prize for Irish Literature
The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature was created in 1976 by the notable Irish American businessman, Dr Dan Rooney, owner and chairman of the NFL franchise, Pittsburgh Steelers....
. Sean O'Faolain described it as containing "the seed of genius". She later became a literary editor with the Poolbeg Press, and became well known for her canny knack of uncovering new talent.