Nesca Robb (27 May 1905 – 18 May 1976) was an Irish writer.

Life

Nesca Adeline Robb was born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

on 27 May 1905. She was the daughter of the managing director of J. Robb & Co., Charles Robb and his wife Agnes (née Arnold). Robb attended Richmond Lodge, and then to

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...

to study modern languages in 1924. She received a BA in 1927, an MA in 1931 and then a D.Phil. in 1932. She published her research as ''Neoplatonism of the Italian renaissance'' in 1935. Robb was a member of the Northern Ireland committee of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

, to which she presented the family home, Lisnabreeny House, Castlereagh, in 1937. She engaged in social and voluntary work for a time, before moving to London in 1938 to take up a position at the London Institute of Italian Studies. She published her first volume with

Blackwell Blackwell may refer to: Places ;Canada * Blackwell, Ontario ;United Kingdom * Blackwell, County Durham, England * Blackwell, Carlisle, Cumbria, England * Blackwell (historic house), South Lakeland, Cumbria, England * Blackwell, Bolsover, Alfre ...

in 1939 as ''Poems''. She was the registrar and advisory officer to the Women's Employment Federation between 1940 and 1944, during which time she wrote a partial account of life ''An Ulsterwoman in England'' in 1942. She returned to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

in 1944, working for a number of public bodies including

PEN A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity wh ...

and the National Trust, and writing. Robb served as a member of the Committee for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts in 1951. In the same year her edited ''The arts in Ulster'' with John Hewitt and

Sam Hanna Bell Sam Hanna Bell (16 October 1909 – 9 February 1990) was a Scottish-born Northern Irish novelist, short story writer, playwright, and broadcaster. Bell was born in Glasgow to Ulster Scots parents. Following the sudden death of his father in ...

, which argued that any mention of politics should be excluded from collections. In 1962 and 1966 she produced a large two-volume history of William of Orange. In 1963 Robb became a member of the

Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde The Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde (English "Society of Dutch Literature", often abbreviated ''MNL'') is a prestigious and exclusive literary society. The MNL was established in Leiden in 1766 and is still located there. At the moment, ...

. She produced a final volume of poetry in 1970, ''Ards eclogues'', and was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...

. Over her life time she wrote 7 volumes of poetry, history and art criticism. Robb died on 18 May 1976 in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, and is buried at Bangor cemetery, County Down. A documentary about Robb, ''A Woman Called Nesca'', was aired on BBC 2 Northern Ireland in June 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robb, Nesca 1905 births 1976 deaths 20th-century Irish writers 20th-century Irish women writers Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford