Travel
Good and bad behaviour in the big houses In her latest literary-themed excursions Lorna Hogg visits locations connected to the Anglo-Irish writer Molly Keane A first novel at seventy-six. This dream for literary publicists took a new course when at the 1981 Booker Awards, the short-listed, mature writer of Good Behaviour, Molly Keane, revealed herself as M.J. Farrell, established author and playwright in the 1930s. But of course, Molly Keane was always full of surprises, and her shrewdly observed and wickedly parodied accounts of her Anglo Irish background were just part of her talent and joie de vivre. Molly Nesta Skrine was born in Newbridge, Co. Kildare, on July 29th 1904, into an Anglo Irish family, which in 1912 moved to Ballyrankin House in Co. Wexford. Her English ex- diplomat and cattle rancher father, and somewhat undemonstrative poet mother were typical parents of their class, background and generation. They hunted and socialised, leaving their children to be cared for by nannies – who were expected to turn out accomplished, well-mannered young ladies. Molly’s two sisters were sent off to boarding school in England. She refused to join them, and was sent to The French School in Bray, where she started her experience of the ‘delicate art of exclusion’. Horses and riding became treasured interests. Young ladies of Molly’s background were expected to be good and fearless horsewomen, as well as socially active, perfectly dressed at hunt balls, charming and ideally, beautiful. However, their world was fading fast. In 1921 her parents were taken outside their home by the Black and Tans, and on a summer evening, watched as it was burned to the ground. Molly’s circle may have been long on style – but was becoming short on money. However, second hand riding boots were tactfully ignored, as her enthusiasm for life and fun in general and riding in particular, allowed Molly an escape from home. She regularly visited friends, including Sylvia and John Perry, from Woodruff, in Co. Tipperary. The house would later inspire her book Mad Puppetstown. Tuberculosis A spell in bed with suspected tuberculosis gave her time to try writing, in order to overcome boredom and isolation. Her initial effort, The Knight of Cheerful Countenance, written under the name of M.J. Farrell, (which was inspired by a local pub), brought her £75 from Mills and Boon. It is said that she promptly spent most of it on a party for her friends at Dublin’s Shelbourne Hotel. Of course she could never have used her own name – observing later that ‘to be seen reading a book, let alone writing one, would have been a cause for alarm’ Even worse, men would have been afraid of her. 10 Senior Times l September - October 2020 l www.seniortimes.ie
Molly Keane, centre, at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre in 1961 for the production of her play, Dazzling Prospect, with co-author John Perry, Margaret Rutherford, Sir John Gielgud, actor and director Richard Leech. Photograph: Dermot Barry
Molly and daughters Sally and Virginia in the early 1950s
In 1950, Molly and family moved to Ardmore, to live in Dysert, a cottage with magnificent sweeping views out over the sea.
Woodruff was also the place where Molly met her great love and future husband, the tall, blond and good looking gentleman farmer Bobby Keane. The couple were instantly smitten with each other, and for the next five years, carried on a passionate secret affair, with some ‘living in sin’. Intelligent and supportive, he was not threatened by her writing, (which by then was paying for her evening dresses for those hunt balls), and encouraged her. Molly’s farce, Spring Meeting; was written in collaboration with John Perry, who was also an actor in in London. It was directed by John Gielgud, and proved highly successful. The American run helped to pay for her 1939 honeymoon with Bobby, whom she married in 1938. The next eight years were idyllic. Molly lived at Belleville, near to Cappoquin, with Bobby, later joined by daughters Sally and Virginia. She hunted, tended the garden, visited friends and wrote –between 1928 and 1956, Molly had eleven books published. In London, she developed a glittering lifestyle, attending publishers’ parties, co-authoring plays and enjoying the theatrical world of rehearsals and post theatre parties. Molly’s social circle was impressive, ranging from Lord Charles Cavendish, a son of the Duke of Devonshire, (whose Irish residence was Lismore Castle) and his wife Adele Astaire, (sister of dancer Fred Astaire) through to Irish author Elizabeth Bowen, and actress Peggy Ashcroft. It was a short idyll. In 1946, Bobby was taken ill in London with a burst duodenal ulcer and rushed to hospital. The next day, he was pronounced dead. Molly found that she could not continue living with memories at Belleville. The grieving young family moved on, living in rented homes over the next few years, as Molly struggled to come to terms with her new life. However, grief and a poor reception for a 1961 play dimmed her enthusiasm for writing. Over the next decades, she set about creating a new life, taking care of her young daughters. In 1950 they moved to Ardmore, to live in Dysert, a cottage with magnificent sweeping views out over the sea. Molly concentrated on domesticity, and her friends remained loyal and supportive over the decades. When in 1980, she showed actress Peggy Ashcroft the draft of a manuscript which had lain in a drawer for years, she was encouraged to submit Good Behaviour to a publisher. It opened a new phase of her life and a new literary and social scene. Russell Harty became a friend, and there were TV appearances and openings, and a whole new social scene. Good Behaviour and her next
