Molly Keane (20 July 1904 â€" 22 April 1996),[1] née Mary Nesta
Skrine, and who also wrote as M. J. Farrell, was an Irish novelist and
playwright.Keane was born Mary Nesta Skrine in Ryston Cottage,
Newbridge, County Kildare.[2] Her mother was a poet who wrote under
the pseudonym Moira O'Neill; her father was a fanatic for horses and
hunting.[2] She grew up at Ballyrankin in County Wexford and refused
to go to boarding school in England as her sibings had done. She was
educated by her mother, governesses,[2] and at a boarding school in
Bray, County Wicklow.[3] Relationships between her and her parents
were cold and she states that she had no fun in her life as a child.
Her own passion for hunting and horses was born out of her need for
fun and enjoyment.[2] Reading did not feature much in her family, and,
although her mother wrote poetry, it was of a sentimental nature,
"suitable to a woman of her class". Keane claimed she had never set
out to be a writer, but at seventeen she was bed bound due to
suspected tuberculosis, and turned to writing out of sheer boredom. It
was then she wrote her first book, The Knight of Cheerful Countenance,
which was published by Mills & Boon. She wrote under the pseudonym "M.
J. Farrell", a name over a pub that she had seen on her return from
hunting. She explained writing anonymously because "for a woman to
read a book, let alone write one was viewed with alarm: I would have
been banned from every respectable house in Co. Carlow."[2]In her
teenage years she spent much of her time in the Perry household in
Woodruff, County Tipperary. Here she befriended the two children of
the house, Sylvia and John Perry. She later collaborated with John in
writing a number of plays. Among them was Spring Meeting, directed by
John Gielgud in 1938, and one of the hits of the West End that year.
She and Gielgud became life long friends.[2]
Skrine, and who also wrote as M. J. Farrell, was an Irish novelist and
playwright.Keane was born Mary Nesta Skrine in Ryston Cottage,
Newbridge, County Kildare.[2] Her mother was a poet who wrote under
the pseudonym Moira O'Neill; her father was a fanatic for horses and
hunting.[2] She grew up at Ballyrankin in County Wexford and refused
to go to boarding school in England as her sibings had done. She was
educated by her mother, governesses,[2] and at a boarding school in
Bray, County Wicklow.[3] Relationships between her and her parents
were cold and she states that she had no fun in her life as a child.
Her own passion for hunting and horses was born out of her need for
fun and enjoyment.[2] Reading did not feature much in her family, and,
although her mother wrote poetry, it was of a sentimental nature,
"suitable to a woman of her class". Keane claimed she had never set
out to be a writer, but at seventeen she was bed bound due to
suspected tuberculosis, and turned to writing out of sheer boredom. It
was then she wrote her first book, The Knight of Cheerful Countenance,
which was published by Mills & Boon. She wrote under the pseudonym "M.
J. Farrell", a name over a pub that she had seen on her return from
hunting. She explained writing anonymously because "for a woman to
read a book, let alone write one was viewed with alarm: I would have
been banned from every respectable house in Co. Carlow."[2]In her
teenage years she spent much of her time in the Perry household in
Woodruff, County Tipperary. Here she befriended the two children of
the house, Sylvia and John Perry. She later collaborated with John in
writing a number of plays. Among them was Spring Meeting, directed by
John Gielgud in 1938, and one of the hits of the West End that year.
She and Gielgud became life long friends.[2]
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