Kate O'Brien
1897 - 1974
Kate O'Brien is best known for her popular novels The Ante Room, Mary Lavelle, The Land of Spices and That Lady. She was educated at Laurel Hill convent in Limerick and at University College Dublin. After graduation she went to work at the Manchester Guardian. Her first major success as an author came with the play Distinguished Villa in 1926, after which she she took to writing full time. She contributed regularly to The Irish Times, The Spectator and to BBC radio. She adapted several of her novels for the stage in London and on Broadway.