Kathleen Coyle

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Kathleen Coyle (23 October 1886 – 25 March 1952) was an Irish novelist known for her autobiographical work. Born in Derry, she was the eldest child of John and Catherine Coyle. Her mother, born in New York City, had Irish roots. The family wealth faded as her father was an alcoholic who did not work, and he died in his forties. Kathleen suffered a childhood injury that left her with a permanent limp. She was educated mostly at home, with some schooling at a convent, and the family could not afford much formal schooling.

In 1906 the family moved to Liverpool, where Kathleen worked in a public library, and in 1909 they moved to London. In London she worked at a newspaper office and met writer Rebecca West. She returned to Ireland in 1911 and joined the socialist movement. Under the name Selma Sigerson she co-wrote Sinn Fein and socialism with James Connolly (1919). She married Charles O'Meagher in 1915; they had two children, Kestrel and Michele; they separated in 1919, and Kathleen moved back to London to live with her mother. She joined the suffragist movement and, to focus on writing, placed her children in foster care.

Her first novel, Piccadilly, appeared in 1923. She then lived in Ostend, Antwerp, and Paris, where she befriended James Joyce and Nora Barnacle. From 1926 onward she wrote many novels, often to earn money. A Flock of Birds (1930) was a runner-up for a prize, coming second to E. M. Forster’s A Passage to India. Liv (1928) and her autobiography The Magical Realm (1943) are among her best-regarded works.

Despite her output she faced money problems. She moved to the United States in 1937 with help from friends, living in New Hampshire with her daughter Michele and joining the MacDowell Colony. During World War II she wrote short stories for women's magazines. Later she moved to Princeton to study Joan of Arc and St. Paul and to review books. In 1951 she moved to Philadelphia, where she died on 25 March 1952 at the age of 65. Her writing has drawn renewed interest since the late 20th century.