Kathy O'Beirne

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Kathleen Elizabeth O'Beirne (born October 18, 1956 in Dublin ) is an Irish author.

O'Beirne became best known for her alleged autobiographical experiences , which appeared in Ireland under the title Kathy's Story: A Childhood Hell Inside the Magdalene Laundries and in the UK as Don't Ever Tell , and which led to heated controversy over the authenticity of their biographies. With over 400,000 copies sold, the book is the second most successful non-fictional book by an Irish author after Frank McCourt's The Ashes of My Mother ( Angela's Ashes ). The book Kathy's Story is the misery lit attributed.

Life

O'Beirne is one of nine children in an Irish Catholic family.

Controversial contents of the biography

According to her own information, she is adopted. However, her birth certificate proves that this is not the case and that she is her parents' birth daughter.

O'Beirne claims she was often mistreated by her father. Among other things, he dipped her hand in a pan with hot fat. However, O'Beirne did not retain any scars, which in view of the abuse described - should it really have occurred - seems unlikely.

Seven of her siblings deny the allegations of abuse. Her father was loving. However, one brother supports O'Beirne.

According to her own statements, O'Beirne was sent to a children's home by her parents at the age of eight. There she was raped by a priest. At the age of 12 she was sent to a Magdalene home and worked in the laundry there. She was raped by a visitor in the Magdalenenheim. At the age of 14, she gave birth to a child who died at the age of ten.

There is no evidence that O'Beirne was actually ever in a Magdalene home. Your descriptions of the laundry are wrong, according to information from women who can be shown to have worked there. Nor is there any evidence that she actually gave birth to a child at the age of 14 who later died.

Seven of O'Beirne's siblings deny that the events described by O'Beirne actually happened. They claim that O'Beirne is mentally ill and unable to distinguish truth from fantasy. O'Beirne has defended her version of events. She accused her siblings of slandering them over an inheritance dispute.

In November 2007, there was a televised debate between O'Beirne and Hermann Kelly, who had doubts about the veracity of their book.

The inheritance disputes between O'Beirne and her siblings were settled in 2008.

Fonts

  • Kathy's story: a childhood hell inside the Magdalen laundries. Mainstream, Edinburgh 2005, ISBN 1-84018-968-1 . New edition under the title: Don't Ever Tell: Kathy's Story: A True Tale of a Childhood Destroyed by Neglect and Fear. Mainstream, Edinburgh 2006, ISBN 1-84596-146-3 .

literature

  • Hermann Kelly: Kathy's Real Story: A Culture of False Allegations Exposed. Prefect, Dunleer 2007, ISBN 978-1-906351-00-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b Author accused of literary fraud says: 'I am not a liar. And I am not running any more ' , The Guardian , September 23, 2006
  2. a b c Author finally agrees to sell home of her 'abuser' , Irish Independent , February 20, 2008
  3. Mis lit: Is this the end for the misery memoir? , The Daily Telegraph , March 5, 2008
  4. a b c d e f Ann Marie Hourihane: A Family Divided by Appalling Memories . In: Sunday Tribune , September 24, 2006. 
  5. ^ Lies of Little Miss Misery - memoir of abused girl is a fake, says new investigation Daily Mail , October 31, 2007
  6. ^ Rival writers in live TV dust-up: Misery memoir sparks sofa war , Irish Independent, November 7, 2007