34657 Treffer anzeigen

Letter from Kate O’Brien, The Fort, Roundstone, county Galway to Lorna Reynolds, 21 Herbert Avenue, Merrion, Dublin. Kate is hoping to get to London about the novel [The Flower of May] and other business and will stop in Dublin on the way back. She is full of a new plan which may save The Fort for her and will tell Lorna all about it when they meet. The letter also contains oblique references to a plan concerning an approach to Trinity or Oxford and presumably relating to Lorna. Kate advises her to consult Cecil Day Lewis or Enid Starkie, or both. With envelope.

This sub-series contains letters and cards from Kate O'Brien to Lorna Reynolds in 1953 and 1954.

Letter from Kate O’Brien, [The Fort], Roundstone, county Galway to Lorna Reynolds, 21 Herbert Avenue, Merrion, Dublin. She thanks Lorna, Darina [Silone] and Gioia [Gaidoni] for their efforts on her behalf. Dulanty has sent his letter to Boland and Kate remains hopeful. She makes another reference to a letter from Darina [Silone]. She puzzles over Darina’s predicament because in her opinion if one must have a man in one’s life, [Ignazio] Silone is the one worth putting up with. She has invited Rhoda Coghill to spend a few days at The Fort as she had to move out of Letterdyfe House and was looking for another guesthouse to go to. She hopes Lorna won’t mind Rhoda’s company for a few days when she comes. With envelope.

Postcard from Kate O’Brien, Roundstone, county Galway to Lorna Reynolds, 21 Herbert Avenue, Merrion, Dublin, urging her to go and see The Member of the Wedding at the Film Society on Saturday.

Letter from Kate O’Brien, [The Fort], Roundstone, county Galway to Lorna Reynolds, 21 Herbert Avenue, Merrion, Dublin. There is a rat in Kate’s yard, but her three cats (Kelly, Tess and Clover) are showing no interest in catching it. She asks if Lorna has any news from [her sister Ruth in] Hong Kong. She sympathises with Lorna on the difficulty of finding a maid to help her with housework. The weather has been beautiful and the sunrises the most magnificent she has ever witnessed. She was sorry to miss a performance of La Sonnambula in Wexford, but didn’t think she could afford the extravagance. She has bought a Dunlopillo mattress to rest her battered spine. She has entertained Peggy Tisdall to lunch. She discusses her cats at some length. With envelope.

Letter from Kate O’Brien, The Fort, Roundstone, county Galway to Lorna Reynolds, 21 Herbert Avenue, Merrion, Dublin. Kate wishes Lorna a happy birthday and mentions gifts she has bought her. She is sorry not to be in Dublin on the day, but the life of her heart is receding and fading under too many pressures. She wishes she had heard Lorna’s talk to the women graduates. She thinks about her novel [As Music and Splendour] incessantly, but hasn’t written a word. She has done her Christmas shopping in Clifden and gives an account of the gifts she has bought for members of her family. With envelope.

Letter from Kate O’Brien, Strand House, Limerick to Lorna Reynolds, 21 Herbert Avenue, Merrion, Dublin. She wonders how Lorna is coping with the bitterly cold weather. She is returning to Roundstone on Monday and will be glad to be home. She continues to work on her novel [As Music and Splendour], albeit slowly. She has seen the films Three Coins in the Fountain and Executive Suite and is going to see The Moonlighter. She wonders if Darina [Silone] is in Paris now and hopes that she will be happy from now on. She gives a list of her Christmas presents, many of which are fragile, and wonders how she will get them to Roundstone without breaking them. She asks if Lorna has had any luck yet in finding a maid. She asks her to direct her next letter to Roundstone. She talks about her three cats and recalls that it was in January last year that her lovely cat Grise [La Grisette] went out and was never seen again. With envelope.

Letter from Kate O’Brien, [The Fort], Roundstone, [county Galway] to Lorna Reynolds, 21 Herbert Avenue, Merrion, Dublin. She thanks Lorna for her gift of £5, which necessity reluctantly forces her to accept, and she promises to consider a small loan from Lorna’s brother Ken to keep her head above water until her novel [As Music and Splendour] crawls to its last line. She has not been writing of late, having been poorly with neuralgia and fibrositis. With envelope.

Letter from Kate O’Brien, [The Fort], Roundstone, [county Galway] to Lorna Reynolds, 21 Herbert Avenue, Merrion, Dublin. Kate has had a bad night of mental torments and physical ailments. She narrates a dream in which she and the other residents of Roundstone were preparing for battle on horseback in anticipation of war. She has been asked to address the Galway women graduates [association] on a subject of her choice. She has three options in mind and asks for Lorna’s opinion on them. [She eventually settled for ‘Living in Rome’.] She mentions John Delanty’s funeral and dwells briefly on death. She discusses her cats at length and how she accidentally almost killed one of them. Kate is honoured to review books for Lorna [as editor of the University Review], but would rather not review Edwin Muir, which she finds too boring. Kate’s Esse range continues to give trouble and she can no longer afford the quantity of anthracite it consumes. She longs for the ESB to make its way to Roundstone as she is tired of groping about with a candle. She apologises for her selfish grumbling, but her house is no longer comfortable. With envelope.

Letter from Kate O’Brien, The Fort, Roundstone, [county Galway] to Lorna Reynolds, 21 Herbert Avenue, Merrion, Dublin. Kate has returned from Dublin and is disappointed to find out that few of the jobs she had left for Joe to do in the house have been touched. She gives an account of her gardening activities and relates in great detail the welcome she received from her three cats on returning home. She is appalled by the number of songbirds they have killed of late. She managed to transport Lorna’s gift of a vase safely to Roundstone and is pleased with how well it looks in the house. She discusses at some length the pleasure she derives from the pictures and objects of art with which she has elected to live. She makes a brief reference to her novel [As Music and Splendour] and her research into voice training in the nineteenth century. With envelope.