Bates, Daisy May
Bates, Daisy May (1859–1951), welfare worker for Aborigines, anthropologist, and eccentric, was born 21 October 1859 in Roscrea, Co. Tipperay, third among six children of James Dwyer , catholic tradesman and blacksmith, and Bridget Dwyer (née Hunt). Her twin brother, Francis, died…...
Carney, Winifred (‘Winnie’)
Carney, Winifred (‘Winnie’) (1887–1943), trade unionist, feminist, and republican, was born Maria Winifred Carney 4 December 1887 at Fisher's Hill, Bangor, Co. Down, youngest child among three sons and three daughters of Alfred Carney, commercial traveller, and Sarah Carney (née Cassidy…...
Childers, Margaret Mary ('Rita')
Childers, Margaret Mary ('Rita') (1915–2010), civil servant and community activist, was born on 25 February 1915 in the family home at Elgin Road, Dublin, the sixth of eight children of Joseph Dudley , a solicitor, and his wife Marcella (née Vereker). Both parents were from well-…...
Cleary, Bridget
Cleary, Bridget (1867–95), dressmaker, was born in Ballyvadlea, near Cloneen, Co. Tipperary, daughter, and apparently the youngest child, of Patrick Boland , a farm labourer, and his wife, Bridget (née Keating). This was probably in February 1867, although most contemporary…...
Conroy, Sheila (née Williams)
Conroy, Sheila (née Williams) (1918–2012), trade unionist, social activist and administrator, was born on 22 April 1918 (or 4 April 1917) in Bantry, Co. Cork, only child of Harry and Jane Williams. A Welsh petty officer in the Royal Navy, Harry Williams was stationed at Bantry (1914–…...
Hackett, Rosanna ('Rosie')
Hackett, Rosanna ('Rosie') (1893–1976), trade unionist, was born 25 July 1893 at 14 Prebend Street, off Constitution Hill in the Dublin north city centre, elder of two daughters of John Hackett, described as a labourer at his marriage (October 1891) but working by Rosie's birth as a…...
Hayes, Margaret
Hayes, Margaret (1954–2014), civil servant, was born on 25 April 1954 in Urlingford, Co. Kilkenny, one of three girls and a boy to James (Jimmy) Hayes and his wife Mary (née Brennan). The Hayes family was immersed in the local community – Mary was a full-time farmer before her marriage…...
Johnson, Rosanna (‘Rosie’)
Johnson, Rosanna (‘Rosie’) (1891–1987), street trader, was born 24 March 1891, daughter of William Walsh, labourer, of 6 Turner's Cottages, Dublin, and Julia Walsh (née Reilly). At the age of 12 she was selling violets on the street for a penny a bunch and by the time she was 17 she…...
Jones, Mary Harris (‘Mother Jones’)
Jones, Mary Harris (‘Mother Jones’) (1837?–1930), union organiser, was (according to baptismal records) born in July 1837 in Cork city; however, the year is disputed. Many details of her life come from The autobiography of Mother Jones (1925; 1974). She emigrated to North…...
Kelly, Rosaline
Kelly, Rosaline (1922–2013), union official and media professional, was born on 27 November 1922 to Laurence Kelly, an insurance agent, and Ellen Kelly (née Fogarty) of 2 Sandyford Terrace, Drogheda, Co. Louth. Rosaline attended primary school at St Patrick's and St Philomena's in…...
Lynam, Sybil Mary Joan (‘Shevawn’)
Lynam, Sybil Mary Joan (‘Shevawn’) (1914–98), administrator, author, and linguist, was born 16 April 1914 in Dublin, daughter of Charles Lynam, engineer, and Margaret (‘Mai’) Lynam (née Moran), both from Co. Galway. Her father served in the first world war as an officer in the…...
MacDonagh, Maire (Mary McDonagh)
MacDonagh, Maire (Mary McDonagh) (1918–97), trade unionist, was born 20 March 1918 in Kilconnell, Co. Galway, the second of three daughters who lived into adulthood of Michael MacDonagh, customs official, and his wife, Caroline, née Keary, both of Co. Galway. She appears to have…...
Mahon, Catherine
Mahon, Catherine (1869–1948), president of the Irish National Teachers Organisation, was born 15 May 1869 in Laccah, north Co. Tipperary, eldest among seven children of James Mahon, labourer, and Winifred Mahon (née O'Meara). She was educated locally and at the Convent of Mercy in…...
Markievicz, Constance Georgine
Markievicz, Constance Georgine (1868–1927), Countess Markievicz, republican and labour activist, was born 4 February 1868 at Buckingham Gate, London, eldest of the three daughters and two sons of Sir Henry Gore-Booth of Lissadell, Co. Sligo, philanthropist and explorer, and Georgina…...
Mason (Derrig), Sinéad (‘Jenny’)
Mason (Derrig), Sinéad (‘Jenny’) (1899–1991), civil servant, was born 2 March 1899 in Craigaroddan, Ards, Co. Down, eldest of eight children of Thomas Mason and Catherine Mason (née Merron). Educated at Ballyphilip national school, Ards, she moved to Dublin to live with her aunt…...
McDowell, Kathleen Mary (‘Kay’)
McDowell, Kathleen Mary (‘Kay’) (1897–1975), trade union leader, was born 16 August 1897 at 20 Connaught St., Phibsborough, Dublin, daughter of William McDowell, wine merchant, of that address, and Mary McDowell (née Kirwan). Her father's family, which had roots in the north of…...
McKenna, Kathleen Napoli
McKenna, Kathleen Napoli (1897–1988), republican and administrator, was born Kathleen Maria Kenna in Oldcastle, Co. Meath, on 9 September 1897, eldest of seven children (four daughters and three sons) of William Kenna (1862–1939), draper and hardware merchant, and his wife Mary (née…...
McNeill, Josephine
McNeill, Josephine (1895–1969), diplomat, was born 31 March 1895 in Fermoy, Co. Cork, daughter of James Ahearne , shopkeeper and hotelier, and Ellen Ahearne (née O'Brien). She was educated at Loretto Convent, Fermoy, and UCD (…...
Molony, Helena
Molony, Helena (1883–1967), actress, republican, trade unionist, and feminist, was born 15 January 1883 at 8 Coles Lane, off Henry St., Dublin, the younger of one daughter and one son of Michael Moloney, grocer, of that address, and Catherine Moloney (née McGrath). Orphaned at an early…...
Murphy, Sheila Geraldine Mary
Murphy, Sheila Geraldine Mary (1898–1983), diplomat, was born 28 December 1898 at 18 Harcourt St., Dublin, elder daughter and fourth among five children of Dr. John Joseph Murphy, physician and surgeon (b. Carlow c.1841), and Louisa Murphy (née Dickson; b. Tyrone c.…...
Owens, Evelyn
Owens, Evelyn (1931–2010), trade unionist and women's rights advocate, was born on 22 January 1931 at 23 Vernon Gardens, Clontarf, Dublin, the fourth of six children of William Owens, a civil servant of Clontarf, originally from Co. Roscommon, and his wife Ellen (née Monaghan), from…...
Smithson, Annie M(ary) P(atricia)
Smithson, Annie M(ary) P(atricia) (1873–1948), author, nurse, republican, and trade unionist, was born Margaret Anne Jane Smithson 26 September 1873 at 22 Claremont Rd, Sandymount, Dublin, daughter of Samuel Raynor Smithson, a protestant, unionist barrister, and Margaret Louisa…...
Tinney, Mary Catherine
Tinney, Mary Catherine (1924–2006), diplomat, was born on 15 February 1924 in Scotland, where her parents were living briefly. When her father, Eamonn Tinney, an income tax official, was posted to Letterkenny, they returned to his home county, Donegal; her mother, Winifred Tinney (née…...