Born on the 6th April 1927 to a Welsh mother and a County Antrim father, Eunice Lorraine Kennedy began writing in her early teens and in the following years had poems published in magazines and articles in the “Belfast Telegraph.” Educated at Ballymena Academy, Lorraine, was brought up by her grandmother after the death of her mother. Her childhood was spent in the Main Street, Cullybackey, where her grandmother had a small confectionery and grocery business.
On leaving school Lorraine started work as a teacher at Parkmore School in the Glens of Antrim. Later she joined the Civil Service and when her job took her to Belfast she lived at Dundonald. When ill health forced her to retire from work she returned to Cullybackey and “back to her roots” where she purchased the Station House with the intention of renovating this property and where she wished to spend her retirement.
“Twelve in Arcady,” Lorraine’s only novel, which was published only seven months before her death,is a story about a huge, broke, noisy and ingenious family living in a ramshackle converted mill in Country Antrim, which will make the reader both laugh and cry, but they will never forget the happy-go-lucky Brodie family.
Lorraine, who had a strong Christian faith, was a member of the CuninghamMemorial Presbyterian Church in Cullybackey passed away on the 23rd September 1985 after a short illness aged fifty-eight. She is laid to rest in the Ballymena Cemetery.