15 Facts About Mary Lavin

Mary Josephine Lavin was an American-born Irish author of short stories and novels, now regarded as a pioneer in the field of women's writing.

Mary Lavin is particularly noteworthy for her stories on the topic of widowhood, which are acknowledged to be among her finest.

Mary Lavin's husband died in 1954, a little over a decade into his marriage.

Mary Lavin's second husband, who before his marriage to Lavin had been living abroad, died in 1991 and she was a widow, remaining so until her death five years later.

Mary Lavin was born in East Walpole, Massachusetts, in 1912, the only child of Tom and Nora Lavin, an immigrant Irish couple.

Mary Lavin attended primary school in East Walpole until the age of nine when her mother decided to go back to Ireland.

Mary Lavin attended Loreto College, a convent school in Dublin, before going on to study English and French at University College Dublin.

Mary Lavin taught French at Loreto College for a while.

Tom Lavin then approached Lord Dunsany, the well-known Irish writer, on behalf of his daughter and asked him to read some of Mary's unpublished work.

In 1943, Mary Lavin published her first book; Tales from Bective Bridge, a volume of ten short stories about life in rural Ireland, was a critical success and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction.

That same year, Mary Lavin married William Walsh, a Dublin lawyer.

Mary Lavin raised her three daughters and kept the family farm going at the same time.

Mary Lavin managed to keep her literary career on track, continuing to publish short stories and winning several awards for her work, including the Katherine Mansfield Prize in 1961, Guggenheim Fellowships in 1959 and 1961, and an honorary doctorate from UCD in 1968.

Mary Lavin had been a Jesuit priest in Australia but had obtained release from his vows from Rome and returned to Ireland.

In 1992, the members of Aosdana elected Mary Lavin - now retired - Saoi for achieving "singular and sustained distinction" in literature.