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==Life==
Cousins was born at 18, Kevor Street in [[Belfast]], Ireland, the descendant of [[Huguenot]] refugees. His father was James Cousins, a mariner, and Susan, née Davis. Largely self-educated at night schools, he worked some time as a clerk became private secretary and speechwriter to [[Sir Daniel Dixon, 1st Baronet]], the Lord Mayor of [[Belfast]]. In 1897 he moved to [[Dublin]] where he became part of a literary circle which included [[William Butler Yeats]], [[George William Russell]] and [[James Joyce]]. He is believed to have served as a model for the Little Chandler character in Joyce's short story collection [[Dubliners]]. Cousins was significantly influenced by Russell's ability to reconcile [[mysticism]] with a pragmatic approach to social reforms and by the teachings of [[Madame Blavatsky]]. He had a lifelong interest in the paranormal and acted as reporter in several experiments carried out by [[William Fletcher Barrett]], Professor of physics at [[Dublin University]] and one of the founders of the [[Society for Psychical Research]].
Cousins produced several books of poetry whilst in Ireland as well as acting in the first production of Cathleen Ní Houlihan (under the stage name of H. Sproule) with the famous Irish revolutionary and beauty [[Maud Gonne]] in the title role. His plays were produced in the first years of the twentieth century in the [[Abbey Theatre]], the most famous being "the Racing Lug". After a dispute with [[W.B. Yeats]], who objected to 'too much Cousins' the Irish National Theatre movement split with two-thirds of the actors and writers siding with Cousins against Yeats. He also wrote widely on the subject of [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|Theosophy]] and in 1915 travelled to [[India]] with the voyage fees paid for by [[Annie Besant]] the President of the [[Theosophical Society]]. He spent most of the rest of his life in the sub-continent, apart from a year as Professor of English Literature at [[Keio University]] in Tokyo and another lecturing in New York. Towards the end of his life he converted to [[Hinduism]]. At the core of Cousins's engagement with Indian culture was a firm belief in the "shared sensibilities between Celtic and Oriental peoples".
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