| Collection Description | The O’Mara Papers comprise predominantly business and personal records created and generated by
Stephen O’Mara Junior (1884-1959) in the course of his life. Material relating to his parents, grandparents,
aunts, uncles and siblings is perfunctory. One of the most significant aspects of the collection is material
relating to the O’Brien family of Boru House, particularly the private correspondence of the novelist Kate
O’Brien with her sisters, brother-in-law and nephew. The letters illuminate O’Brien’s method of writing, the
creative process behind each of her novels and the ups and downs of her career as author. They also
reveal her complete lack of financial acumen, her tendency to live wildly beyond her means, and her lifelong
dependency on the fiscal good will of Anne and Stephen O’Mara. Of Kate O’Brien’s private life the letters
reveal almost nothing, demonstrating a high degree of circumspectness and a tendency to compartmentalise
various aspects of her life. The one rare exception is correspondence relating to her brief marriage and its
aftermath in 1922-1925 which, while not revelatory as such, exposes a more vulnerable aspect of Kate’s
personality. [University of Limerick Special Collection and Archives]
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