Katherine Alexandra Cruise O'Brien (26 May 1948 – 26 March 1998) was an Irish writer. The third and youngest child of Irish politician and diplomat

Conor Cruise O'Brien Donal Conor David Dermot Donat Cruise O'Brien (3 November 1917 – 18 December 2008), often nicknamed "The Cruiser", was an Irish diplomat, politician, writer, historian and academic, who served as Minister for Posts and Telegraphs from 1973 ...

and Christine Foster, she was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, and grew up in

Howth Howth ( ; ; non, Hǫfuð) is an affluent peninsular village and outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The district as a whole occupies the greater part of the peninsula of Howth Head, which forms the northern boundary of Dublin Bay, and include ...

. She went to school in Dublin and studied English in

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. Her mother, Christine Foster, was born in Derry and was raised in Belfast. Christine's father, Alec Foster, was headmaster of Belfast Royal Academy, and played international rugby for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. While still at university, Kate Cruise O'Brien 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 Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philippin ...

. 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 The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature was created in 1976 by the Irish American businessman Dan Rooney, owner and chairman of the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers franchise and former US Ambassador to Ireland. The prize is awarded to Irish writers aged ...

. Seán Ó Faoláin 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.

Personal life

In 1971, she married Joseph Kearney; the couple had one child. Kate Cruise O'Brien died suddenly in 1998 in Dublin.

Works

*''A Gift Horse, and Other Stories'' (1977), Poolbeg Press *''The Homesick Garden'' (1991), Poolbeg Press *''If Only: Short Stories of Love and Divorce'' (1997), Poolbeg Press (co-editor) *''In Sunshine Or in Shadow'' (1999), Poolbeg Press (co-editor)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Kate Cruise 1948 births 1998 deaths 20th-century Irish poets Irish women poets Writers from County Dublin 20th-century Irish short story writers Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Irish literary editors