Adelaide O'Keeffe facts for kids

Adelaide O'Keeffe (born November 5, 1776 – died September 4, 1865) was an Irish writer. She was a poet and novelist. She is best known for her children's poetry. She might have written the very first novel in verse for children.

Life Story of Adelaide O'Keeffe

Adelaide O'Keeffe was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1776. Her father, John O'Keeffe, was a famous Irish playwright. Her mother was an actress named Mary Heaphy. When Adelaide was young, her parents separated. She and her brother then lived with their father.

Early Life and Education

At age seven, Adelaide was sent to a French convent school. She stayed there for five years. She returned to England when the French Revolution began. She was about twelve years old then. From that time on, she stayed close to her father.

Helping Her Father and Becoming a Writer

Adelaide became her father's amanuensis. This means she wrote down his plays and stories for him. Her father became blind, so she was his eyes and hands for writing. She also worked as a governess. She earned money as an author to support him. She did this for almost 45 years, until he passed away in 1833. She helped him write plays like The Farmer and Wild Oats.

Adelaide's Novels

Adelaide O'Keeffe wrote several novels. Her first published book was Llewellin: A Tale. It was a historical novel. She often wrote stories set in the past. Many of her heroes in these books faced tough childhoods. Sometimes, their parents had separated, like in her own life.

One of her interesting novels is Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra. This book is about a powerful queen from the Roman Empire. Zenobia learns about different religions. This story shows how people's beliefs can change.

Another novel, Dudley (1819), talks a lot about education. It was inspired by a French book about teaching children. Adelaide also retold the first five books of the Bible in her book Patriarchal Times (1811).

Children's Poetry and Famous Works

Even though she wrote novels, Adelaide O'Keeffe is most famous for her children's poetry. She was a main writer for a very important collection called Original Poems for Infant Minds (1804, 1805). She wrote this with two other poets, Ann Taylor and Jane Taylor.

She wrote many other poetry books for young people. These include Original Poems: Calculated to Improve the Mind of Youth (1808) and The Old Grand-Papa, and Other Poems (1812). She also wrote poems about different countries in National Characters Exhibited in Forty Geographical Poems (1818).

Adelaide O'Keeffe was a pioneer in children's poetry. She created what might be the first "verse-novel" for children. This is a novel told entirely through poems. She also used new ways to help children learn through her poems.

Later Life and Death

Adelaide O'Keeffe never married. She passed away in 1865 in Brighton, England. In her last years, she received money from the Literary Fund. This fund helped writers who needed support.

Adelaide O'Keeffe's Legacy

Adelaide O'Keeffe's poetry is still important today. Her poems have been republished in a special collection. This collection helps people study the works of Irish women poets from the Romantic era. Her contributions to children's literature are still recognized.

Works by Adelaide O'Keeffe

• Llewellin (1799)
• Original Poems for Infant Minds (with Ann Taylor and Jane Taylor) (1804, 1805)
• Original Poems Calculated to Improve the Mind of Youth (1808)
• Patriarchal Times, or, The Land of Canaan (1811)
• The Old Grand-Papa, and Other Poems, for the Amusement of Youth (1812)
• Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra (1814)
• "Prejudice" in The Hermit and the Traveller (1816)
• National Characters Exhibited in Forty Geographical Poems (1818)
• Dudley (1819)
• A Trip to the Coast. Or Poems Descriptive of Various Interesting Objects on the Sea-Shore (1819)
• Mamma’s Present of Pictures and Poetry (1820)
• "Memoir" in O'Keeffe's Legacy to his Daughter (1834)
• Poems for Young Children (1848)
• The Broken Sword: a Tale (1854)