Kate O’Brien was born in Limerick in 1897 to Thomas and Catherine Thornhill O’Brien.  She was one of a large family, seven girls and five boys.  Her father was a successful horse breeder and was well able to provide for his family. They lived in Boru House, a large red bricked house which is still standing on Mulgrave Street in Limerick. Kate’s mother died when she was only five and she was sent as a border to Laurel Hill where her sisters attended. She was the youngest border but seemed to have been very happy in school. In 1916 she entered University College Dublin to read English and French. Unfortunately her father died the same year leaving the family with very little money. Despite this, Kate was resourceful, winning a County Council Scholarship and finishing her degree.  Kate lived in London and in Manchester where she worked on The Guardian, making her living as a journalist. During this time she began to write stories and plays and she was originally known as a playwright, her first play, Distinguished Villa, was written in 1926 and this was followed by The Bridge in 1927. In 1931 her first novel Without My Cloak was published to great acclaim, winning the Hawthornden and the James Tait Black prizes. She went on to write eight more novels The Ante Room in 1934, Mary Lavelle in 1936, Pray for the Wanderer in 1938, The Land of Spices in 1941, The Las of Summer in 1943, That Lady in 1946, The Flower of May in 1953 and As Music and Splendour in 1958.  Two of her novels Mary Lavelle and The Land of Spices were banned by The Irish Censorship Board. Kate also dramatized three of her novels.  That Lady was made into a film starring Olivia de Havilland. In 1943 she wrote English Diaries and Journals and in 1951 a life of Teresa of Avila. She also wrote two travel books: Farewell Spain in 1937 and My Ireland in 1962. In 1963 she wrote an autobiography Presentation Parlour. She also wrote a regular column for the Irish Times.