Lucy Gertrude Kelly was born in Charlottetown on November 1, 1877. She spent much of her youth in Lapeer, Michigan, where her brother, the Rev. Francis C. Kelly was parish priest, and later in Kalamazoo in the same state; at both of these places she taught art in the parish schools. She began writing poetry and prose when she was young. In 1903, she returned to P.E.I. and married Patrick William Clarkin. Mrs. Clarkin’s work was published in many periodicals including Christian Family, Chatelaine, Canadian Bookman, the Toronto Saturday Night, and the Montreal Star. A volume of her verse, Way of Dreams was published privately in the 1920s; she contributed to the St. Dunstan’s University paper, Red and White, and after her death in 1947 a memorial edition of the paper was published entitled Poems by Lucy Gertrude Clarkin.

Source: Island Prose and Poetry: An Anthology by Allan Graham