Beginner's Pluck - Maura Mulligan

As a teenager, Maura was a servant in a big house.

Then, sailing for America, she worked as a telephone operator, before becoming a nun. Eventually leaving, she had occasional acting parts, and she ran a language school. Then, she taught English in the New York system.

“I started writing in the ’90s. I took a writing course on Achill Island, led by the poet, Macdara Woods. That was where I first heard the echoes of childhood mingle with the winds of emigration.”

Who is Maura Mulligan?

* Date/place of birth: May 1941/Aghamore, County Mayo.

* Education: “I left school, in Ireland, at 12, but I gained a BA when I was in the convent. Afterwards, I earned an MA in arts at Hunter College, New York.”

* Home: New Jersey, near New York.

* Family: A sister, Bridie, and a brother John.

* The Day Job: Retired teacher. “I still teach céilí dancing, and, occasionally, Irish to adults.”

* Interests: “I love attending dance and music summer schools in Ireland.”

* Favourite Writers: Edna O’Brien, Frank McCourt, Colm Tóibín, Nuala O’ Faolain and Anne Lamott.

* Second Novel: I’m working on a novel based in Ireland.

* Top Writing Tip: Enjoy the process. If it’s not fun, do something else.

* Web: www.mauramulligan.com

THE DEBUT

Call of the Lark. Greenpoint Press: €10.70

This memoir follows Maura’s childhood in 1940s rural Ireland, and shows how emigration, back then, seemed the only choice. It’s a vivid portrait of life as a nun; the joys, frustrations, the humour, and, finally, after Vatican II brought in changes, the decision to leave the confines of that life.

“Leaving Ireland didn’t feel like a free choice. It was what was expected of you. All that was familiar stayed firmly planted in my head, and in my heart. I simply had to write it.

“And, besides, someone needed to give witness to living in that corner of Mayo.”

* The Verdict: A beautiful, gentle memoir of life in a convent. And of a woman unafraid to change her life.