Kathleen O'Shea Biography

Born in the wilds of southern Ireland, Kathleen spent her early years roaming free in wagons with her large family. Her idyllic country life however was brought to end when her parents’ marriage fell apart and aged eight she was sent to live in one of the notoriously cruel convents of Ireland. It wasn’t until seven years later that she was finally freed and moved to London, where she has remained for the rest of her life. In 2002 she was awarded compensation under the Residential Institutions Redress Act for the abuse she suffered in the convent. Her memoir Little Drifters recalls this time and how she and her siblings have managed to rebuild their lives despite the appalling cruelty they endured. Today Kathleen, a mother and grandmother, lives a happy and peaceful life with the husband she married at 17 but she is determined that others should be aware of the brutal treatment of innocent children under the Irish state.

How I Found the Agency

It had always been my dream to write a book and over the years I tried writing down my experiences. But I knew it wasn’t coming out right and this tormented me, wondering how on earth I was going to get my story out there, so much so that it kept me awake at nights.  One night I’d had a very fitful sleep, just going over and over in my head what I should do and I must have woken very early because I heard the birds outside and for some reason that sparked anidea in my head that perhaps I could get a ghostwriter. I grabbed my computer and put ‘ghostwriter’ into Google and three things came up, one of them was Andrew’s agency. I’d never even heard of literary agency before! I called up and he told me to send in what I’d written and I’ve never looked back. So if you ask me how I found Andrew, the answer is - a little birdy told me!