Loretta Clarke Murray Collection of Women in Revolutionary Ireland 1893-2008 (bulk 1916-1950) MS.2016.016 http://hdl.handle.net/2345.2/MS2016-016
Archives and Manuscripts Department John J. Burns Library Boston College 140 Commonwealth Avenue Chestnut Hill 02467 library.bc.edu/burns/contact URL: http://www.bc.edu/burns Table of Contents
Summary Information ...... 3 Administrative Information ...... 4 Related Materials ...... 4 Biographical note: Loretta Clarke Murray ...... 6 Scope and Contents ...... 6 Arrangement ...... 7 Collection Inventory ...... 8 I: Adelaide Blake papers ...... 8 II: Cuala Industries ...... 8 III: Cumann na mBan ...... 9 IV: Máire Gill ...... 10 V: Maud Gonne ...... 15 VI: Constance de Markievicz ...... 17 VII: Helena Moloney ...... 18 VIII: Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington ...... 19 IX: Margaret Skinnider ...... 20 X: Elizabeth Corbet Yeats ...... 20 XI: Irish arts and culture ...... 21 XII: Irish independence ...... 22 XIII: Women's suffrage ...... 23
Loretta Clarke Murray Collection of Women in Revolutionary Ireland MS.2016.016
- Page 2 - Summary Information
Creator: Cuala Press Creator: Cumann na mBan Creator: Gill, Maire, 1891-1977 Creator: Gonne, Maud, 1866-1953 Creator: Markievicz, Constance de, 1868-1927 Creator: Moloney, Helena, 1884-1967 Creator: Sheehy-Skeffington, Hanna Creator: Skinnider, Margaret Creator: Yeats, Elizabeth Corbet, 1868-1940 Title: Loretta Clarke Murray collection of women in revolutionary Ireland Collection Identifier: MS.2016.016 Date [inclusive]: 1893-2008 Date [bulk]: 1916-1950 Physical Description 30.5 Linear Feet (31 containers) Language of the This collection includes materials in English, French, and Irish. Material: Abstract: This collection includes papers and artifacts of women and organizations involved in the fight for Irish independence. A majority belonged to Máire Gill and relate to her work with Cumann na mBan, a women's Irish republican organization, as well as her work with Cuala Press and the women's sport of camogie. Additionally, there are materials relating to women's suffrage. Of note are a banner made by Maud Gonne and a journal of Margaret Skinnider's involvement in the 1916 Easter Rising. Preferred Citation
Identification of item, Box number, Folder number, Loretta Clarke Murray collection of women in revolutionary Ireland, MS.2016.016, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.
Loretta Clarke Murray Collection of Women in Revolutionary Ireland MS.2016.016
- Page 3 - Administrative Information
Publication Information Processed by Stephanie Hall in 2018. This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace.
Conditions Governing Access Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The original authors may retain copyright to the materials.
Provenance Purchases and gifts from Loretta Clarke Murray through De Burca Books in 2005 and 2016-2021.
Processing Information Cuala Industries materials, previously available as Cuala Press Artwork, MS.2005.035, have been incorporated into the Loretta Clarke Murray collection because of shared provenance.
Related Materials
Separated Materials Published works associated with this collection have been transferred within the Burns Library and can be found in the Boston College Library catalog.
Related Materials Boston College collection of Yeats family papers, MS.1986.054, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.
Kathleen Daly Clarke papers and collection of Thomas Clarke and Irish political materials, MS.2001.007, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.
Loretta Clarke Murray Collection of Women in Revolutionary Ireland MS.2016.016
- Page 4 - Letter from Grace Gifford to Joseph Mary Plunkett, MS.2017.015, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.
Loretta Clarke Murray Collection of Women in Revolutionary Ireland MS.2016.016
- Page 5 - Biographical note: Loretta Clarke Murray
Loretta Clarke Murray was born in Ballina, County Mayo, Ireland. She went to boarding school in Dublin at the age of eight. Many of her teachers had participated in the Irish War of Independence, some of them as members of Cumann na mBan. This inspired Murray's lifelong interest in Irish history.
Murray went on to become a noted collector of Irish history, art, books, and jewelry. Her brother, Jackie Clarke, was also a collector of Irish history.
Murray died April 10, 2017.
Sources
"Death of Loretta Clarke Murray, Staunch Republican and Avid Historical Collector." Connaught Telegraph. April 11, 2017. Accessed June 28, 2018. http://www.con-telegraph.ie/news/roundup/ articles/2017/04/11/4138181-death-of-loretta-clarke-murray-staunch-republican-and-avid-historical- collector/.
McCoole, Sinéad., and Boston College. John J. Burns Library. A Tribute to Loretta Clarke Murray : On the Occasion of the Opening of the Exhibit Sixty Years of the Cuala Press: A Collaboration of the Yeats Family and Mollie Gill. Bethesda, Md.: Wild Apple Press, 2008.
"MURRAY CLARKE, Loretta : Death Notice." MURRAY CLARKE, Loretta : Death Notice - Irish Times Family Notices - Irish Times. April 11, 2017. Accessed June 28, 2018. http:// notices.irishtimes.com/death/murray-clarke-loretta/49987395?s_source=itir_titi.
Scope and Contents
This collection contains materials collected by Loretta Clarke Murray relating to the fight for Irish Independence, particularly materials belonging to women who fought for the cause. Included are materials by and about Cumann na mBan, Máire Gill, Maud Gonne, Countess Constance Markievicz, Helena Moloney, Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington, and Margaret Skinnider in the form of correspondence, photographs, meeting minutes, autograph books of female prisoners, and handbills. Of note are an embroidered banner made by Gonne and a journal chronicling Skinnider's participation in the 1916 Easter Rising.
Other materials are related to the women's personal and artistic pursuits. Materials from Cuala Industries, from both the printing and embroidery departments, are included. Gill's papers include photographs, correspondence, and other materials relevant to her involvement with camogie, as well as her work as a printer for Cuala Press. The collection also contains photographs and articles about Elizabeth Corbet Yeats' management of Cuala Industries and watercolor landscapes by Yeats. Irish arts are further documented through jewelry, including Tara-inspired brooches worn by Inghinidhe na hÉireann
Loretta Clarke Murray Collection of Women in Revolutionary Ireland MS.2016.016
- Page 6 - members, etchings by Estella Frances Solomons, and a watercolor by Michael MacLiammoir inspired by a W.B. Yeats poem.
Irish Organizations
Bean na hÉireann: Monthly magazine published by the organization Inghinidhe na hÉireann.
Cumann na mBan: League of Women; An Irish republican women's organization.
Cumann Camógaíochta na nGael: The name of the Camogie Association from 1939 until 2010.
Cumann na Saoirse: The League for Freedom; The women's organization created after Cumann na mBan split.
Dáil Éireann: Assembly of Ireland; The parliament of the Irish Republic from 1919 to 1922.
Inghinidhe na hÉireann: An Irish republican women's organization founded by Maud Gonne and later merged with Cumann na mBan.
Sinn Féin: Irish republican political party.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in thirteen series by collecting theme: I. Adelaide Blake papers; II. Cuala Industries; III. Cumann na mBan; IV. Mollie Gill; V. Maud Gonne; VI. Constance de Markievicz; VII. Helena Moloney; VIII. Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington; IX. Margaret Skinnider; X. Elizabeth Corbet Yeats; XI. Irish Arts and Culture XII. Irish independence; and XIII. Women's suffrage.
Series III. Mollie Gill contains nine subseries: A. Artifacts; B. Autographs books; C. Camogie; D. Correspondence; E. Ephemera; F. Photographs; G. Political materials; H. Vital records; and I. Manuscripts.
Series VI. Helena Moloney contains two subseries: A. Correspondence; and B. Exercise books.
Loretta Clarke Murray Collection of Women in Revolutionary Ireland MS.2016.016
- Page 7 - Collection Inventory
Series I: Adelaide Blake papers, 1864-1909 box 5 box 29-31 Scope and Contents
Contains several letters; financial documents including invoices and a lease; a gift list written on a scrap of envelope; and a collar pattern made from an old letter. Most letters and invoices are addressed to Adelaide Blake, though two love letters are to a Miss Hogg and one empty envelope is to Harriet Wade. The materials belonging to Blake are last dated 1881, with the Hogg and Wade materials extending into the early 1900s.
Series II: Cuala Industries, 1902-1977 Historical note
Cuala Industries was established in 1908 by sisters Elizabeth Corbet Yeats and Lily Yeats, after they left the Dun Emer Guild, which they had founded six years before with Evelyn Gleeson. Cuala Industries included an embroidery, weaving, and tapestry studio; a printing press; and a bindery. Cuala, like Dun Emer before it, was meant to promote Irish crafts made from Irish materials, and to employ Irish women. The majority of its employees were young local girls. Lily ran the embroidery studio; Elizabeth was the director of the printing and bindery portion of the business; and their brother W. B. was the literary editor. Cuala Press printed 66 titles before it ceased publishing books in 1946, including works by W. B. Yeats, George Russell, and Lady Gregory. The Press also printed cards, calendars, and other artwork. Jack Yeats designed some of the prints published by the Press. Cuala Press had difficulty competing with more modern and industrialized publishers and had frequent financial difficulties. After Elizabeth's death in 1940, W. B.'s wife, Georgie, took over as director of the Press until her death in 1968.
Sources
Baskin, Lisa Unger. "A Gathering from the Dun Emer Press & the Cuala Press." The Massachusetts Review 28, no. 3 (1987). http://www.jstor.org/stable/25089906.
Murray, Simone. "The Cuala Press: Women, publishing, and the conflicted genealogies of 'feminist publishing'," Women's Studies International Forum, vol. 27, iss. 5-6 (2004). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2004.09.005.
Custodial History
The majority of the materials that Murray collected on Cuala Press originally belonged to Mollie Gill, but Murray added additional materials from other sources. All of Murray's Press materials are presented together in this series regardless of provenance.
Alfred Bartlett card with Cuala Press print, undated box 1 folder 1
Booklets and pamphlets, 1922-1947, 1971, undated box 1 folder 2-6
Book plates, undated box 1 folder 7-8
Books, 1932-1943, 1971 box 19
Loretta Clarke Murray Collection of Women in Revolutionary Ireland MS.2016.016
- Page 8 - Broadsides, 1935, 1937 box 1 folder 9-10
Calendars, 1956-1957 box 1 folder 11
Commissioned work, 1938, undated box 1 folder 12
Embroidery of a Japanese House by Y. Oshima, undated box 5 folder 14
Embroidery stencils by Elizabeth Corbet Yeats, 1902 April 22, box 1 folder 13 undated box 16 folder 1 folder 1
Frontispieces and motifs, 1903-1931, undated box 1 folder 14
Hand-colored cards, undated box 1 folder 15-16 box 2 folder 1-12
Hand-colored cards, two signed by Elizabeth Corbet Yeats, box 2 folder 17 undated Custodial History
These three cards are of unknown provenance, but are believed to be from Loretta Clarke Murray's collecting.
Leather pieces with Celtic designs intended for book covers, and box 9 Celtic stencils used by Molly Gill, undated box 2 folder 13
Misprints, circa 1926-1944 box 2 folder 14 box 16 folder 2
Newspaper clippings about Cuala Press, 1939-1977 box 16 folder 5
Portrait of J. M. Synge, from a drawing by John B. Yeats, circa box 2 folder 15 1905
Printing lists: small lined notebook with inventories of prints box 2 folder 16 and paper in stock, as well as number of prints issued, by year (includes loose pages which have been inserted), 1943-1963 box 25
Prints, 1930-1940, undated box 3 folder 1-2 box 16 folder 3-4 box 20 folder 1 box 5 folder 13
Proofs, 1904-1943, undated box 3 folder 3
Wooden blotter with hand-painted Celtic design used at Dun Emer box 10 and Cuala, undated
Yeats, Lily letter, 1933 June 8 box 3 folder 4
Series III: Cumann na mBan, circa 1920s-1936, undated
Loretta Clarke Murray Collection of Women in Revolutionary Ireland MS.2016.016
- Page 9 - Historical note
Cumann na mBan, which is Irish for "League of Women," was formed in 1914 in Dublin as a support group to the Irish Volunteer Force. Among its responsibilities, the organization worked toward arming the men and creating propaganda to support the cause of Irish independence. During the 1916 Easter Rising, many members played a role in the rebellion, though those roles were mostly non-combatant and included performing first aid, gathering intelligence, and transporting arms. Over seventy women from Cumann na mBan were arrested for their participation in the Easter Rising, and most were released shortly after.
After the Rising, the organization was led by Countess Constance Markievicz. Members continued to support the cause for independence by organizing prisoner relief agencies, playing an active role in the Irish War of Independence, and producing a militant nationalist newspaper, the Irish Bulletin.
In 1922, when leaders of the group rejected the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the organization was split and Cumann na Saoirse (Free State Cumann na mBan) was formed.
Sources
"History - 1916 Easter Rising - Profiles - Cumann Na MBan." BBC. Accessed June 27, 2018. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ history/british/easterrising/profiles/po13.shtml.
McCarthy, Cal. Cumann Na MBan and the Irish Revolution. Revised ed. Collins Press, 2014.
Autograph book of female prisoners, assembled by Caitlin Ni box 26 Bhriain. Includes Cumann na mBan members in Kilmainham, North Dublin Union, and other prisons, 1922-1923
Belfast Branch constitution, undated box 3 folder 5
Belfast Branch correspondence, 1935 box 3 folder 6
Christmas card, undated box 3 folder 7
Emmet Anniversary ticket, 1926 March 7 box 3 folder 8
Handbills, 1930-1940, undated box 3 folder 9
Lapel pin with a volunteer rifle with the letters ''C na mB," in box 18 original box, between 1914-1922
List of deceased members, Belfast Branch, undated box 3 folder 10
Minutes of executive meetings book, 1934-1936 box 11
Mission and constitution, printed leaflet that also includes a box 3 folder 12 membership application form, undated
Notice for Cumann na mBan members, undated box 3 folder 11
Six-county elections, public statement, circa 1920s box 3 folder 13
Series IV: Máire Gill, 1891-1997 Biographical note
Mary Anne Gill (called Molly or Mollie) was born on March 24, 1891, and lived in Murphystown, County Dublin, Ireland. She was one of seven children. At the age of seventeen, she went to work at the Dun Emer Press as an assistant to Elizabeth Corbet Yeats. That same year, Elizabeth and her sister, Lily Yeats, left Dun Emer Press to set up Cuala Industries, which included a printing shop and an embroidery shop, and Gill went with them to continue Loretta Clarke Murray Collection of Women in Revolutionary Ireland MS.2016.016
- Page 10 - her work as an assistant printer. She took Irish lessons and attended theatre and opera lectures that the Yeats sisters arranged for their employees. She adopted the Irish spelling of her name, Máire Ní Ghiolla, which she used for the rest of her life. By 1937 Gill was the principal compositor at the press. She remained at Cuala until she retired in 1969.
Gill joined Inghinidhe na hÉireann, an Irish women's nationalist organization, and in 1914 became one of the first members of Cumann na mBan. Although it is not known if Gill had a role in the 1916 Easter Rising, she ultimately received a medal for her involvement in the War of Independence. She served on the executive committee of the Irish Republican Prisoners' Dependent Fund, and in 1921 she stood with Cumann na mBan when they rejected the Anglo-Irish Treaty. In May 1923, Gill was arrested at Cuala Press, along with fellow printer Essie Ryan, for her involvement in the organization. Gill was imprisoned at Kilmainham Gaol for several months but returned to her job at Cuala on her release.
Gill was a player, team captain, and advocate for camogie, an emerging sport for women that was part of the larger movement to promote Irish culture. She was a member of Croke's Football and Hurling Club. She was a founding member when the Dublin Board of Cumann Camógaíocht na nGael (the Camogie Association) was established in 1915 and chaired it from 1917-1935. She served as the first president of the national Cumann Camógaíochta na nGael after its reorganization and led it from 1923 until 1941. She represented camogie on the organizing committee of the Tailteann Games and went on to win a gold medal as captain of the Leinster team in 1928 and in 1932 when they won the first All-Ireland championships.
Gill died on March 15, 1977.
Sources
McCoole, Sineád. "Mollie Gill, 1891-1977: A Woman of Ireland." History Ireland 13, no. 2 (2005): 10-11. http:// www.jstor.org.proxy.bc.edu/stable/27725229.
"Presidents." The Camogie Association: An Cumann Camógaíochta. Accessed on 7/19/2021. https://camogie.ie/ history/presidents/
Scope and Contents
This series includes materials that were clearly described in Murray's inventories as belonging to Mollie Gill. It documents her personal life and involvement with camogie, Cumann na mBan, and her time in Kilmainham jail. This series also includes materials from Kathleen Byrne, a friend of Gill's who was part of the same camogie club. Some materials in the Irish arts and culture and Irish independence series could have belonged to Gill but did not have sufficient description to determine the original owner (see the War of Independence medal and Inghinidhe na hÉireann brooches).
Subseries A: Artifacts, probably 1891-1915, undated
Blue and green sash with embroidered sun, made by Maud box 18 object 10 Gonne, given to Gill by Sean McBride, before 1953
Brooch, in Celtic serpent design with "M. Gill 1915" engraved box 18 object 9 on back, 1915
Christening bonnet, probably 1891 box 8
Christening mug, probably 1891 box 8
Linen hand-sewing thread, undated box 18 object 11
Printing ink box, J. & P. Coats Colors for Hand and Machine, box 18 object 13 undated
Loretta Clarke Murray Collection of Women in Revolutionary Ireland MS.2016.016
- Page 11 - Subseries B: Autograph books, 1913-1937
Gill's autograph book, including many Kilmainham Jail box 24 signatures, autographs of the Dublin Camogie team, verses, and illustrations, 1913-1925
Kathleen Byrne's autograph book, beginning with the verse "All box 27 friends, into this auto/I ask you to write/but tearing out pages/ I deem impolite K. Byrne 3/3/24". Most signatures include a verse, 1924, 1937
Autograph book with verses and illustrations, including works box 28 by Rosaleen Byrne and Molly Fitzgerald, 1922-1924 Scope and Contents
Illustrations and inscriptions towards end of the book imply that it belonged to Kathleen Byrne.
Subseries C: Camogie, 1908-1939
Congress of Affiliated Camoguidheacht Teams, minutes of box 3 folder 15 proceedings, typescript, 1933 April 30
Correspondence, circa 1915-1933 box 3 folder 14
Cualacht Luth na mBan Gaedheal Camoguidheacht minutes, box 3 folder 16 typescript, 1937, 1939
Gold medals from the Aonach Tailteann games, two for first box 7 place and a third inscribed to Gill as all-Ireland team captain, 1928
Interview by Dene FitzGibbon, "Irish Women in Sport - box 3 folder 18 Comguideacht: Miss Moira Gill Captain of Croke Team and Holder of Tailteann Cup" corrected typescript, 1936 June 29
Irishwomen's National Athletic and Camoguidheacht box 3 folder 17 Association, Dublin Leaguers Annual Meeting minutes, manuscript, undated
League and championship medals (14 items), 1908-1935, box 18 object 14-27 undated
Newspaper clippings (one game photograph and one article in box 16 folder 6 Irish from The Irish Press "Women in the News" column), 1936 July 15
Notes: draft of league game series rules (pages 5-8 only) and box 3 folder 20 final page of a letter to Gill with a note about a camogie ground, 1920s
Photographs: portraits of Gill's camogie teams, the Tailtean box 3 folder 19 Games Executive Committee, and candids of games in play, 1920s-1930s
Loretta Clarke Murray Collection of Women in Revolutionary Ireland MS.2016.016
- Page 12 - Tara style brooch, bronze-colored with yellow enamel, inscribed box 18 object 1 "To K. Byrne from M. Gill and E. Ryan, Dublin Camog League", 1925 August 15
Subseries D: Correspondence, 1919-1950
Belfast and British Trade Boycotts, 1922 January 25 box 3 folder 21
Berchuraus, M., 1947 December 27 box 3 folder 22
(Probably Byrne), Kay, 1941-1942 box 5 folder 32
Courtney, John, 1921 October 31 box 3 folder 23
Courtney, Mary, 1921 box 3 folder 24
C---, Fred, 1921 box 5 folder 33
Dundram Horticultural Society Treasurer, 1920 September 4 box 3 folder 25
Ní Riain, A., 1920s box 5 folder 34
O'Carroll, May, 1923 box 3 folder 26
O'Higgins, Brian, undated box 3 folder 27
O'Keefe, J. O., 1921 May 19 box 3 folder 28
(Maybe Ryan), Florrie, undated box 5 folder 35
Sinn Féin and Cumann na mBan, 1919-1944, undated box 3 folder 29
Sister Aquira, 1950 July 24 box 5 folder 36
Sister M. Cecelia of the child Jesus, 1950 January box 5 folder 37
Sister ---, 1947 December box 5 folder 38
The Standard rejecting publication of a St. Patrick radio box 3 folder 45 broadcast by James E. Keane (typescript included), 1940
Yarrell, Mary, undated box 3 folder 30
Yeats, Elizabeth Corbet, undated box 3 folder 31
Yeats, Georgie, 1937, undated box 3 folder 32
---, Ellen, 1923 November 4 box 5 folder 39
---, Jane (a cousin of Gill's), 1922 November 6 box 5 folder 40
---, S., 1921 April 26 box 5 folder 41
Unidentified correspondent, envelope only, undated box 3 folder 33
Subseries E: Ephemera, 1906-1950
Dundrum Horticultural Society Annual Show certificate of box 3 folder 34 entry, 1920 July 13
Harbor Sweep on Grand National ticket, 1920 box 3 folder 35
Loretta Clarke Murray Collection of Women in Revolutionary Ireland MS.2016.016
- Page 13 - Invitation from Jack B. Yeats for Exhibition of Pictures of Life box 3 folder 36 in the West of Ireland, undated
Newspaper clippings, 1950, undated box 4 folder 15
Rupert the Reckless by Kathleen Fitzpatrick, theater program, box 3 folder 39 1906 February 27
Scrap of mat board with inscription by Elizabeth Corbet Yeats box 3 folder 37 commemorating the forming of the new Cuala Industries Ltd (annotated by Loretta Clarke Murray), 1938 October 21
The Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, 124th Annual box 3 folder 38 Dinner, program with song lyrics. Includes inserted pages with Gill's transcription of "The Dawn", 1908 March 17
Subseries F: Photographs, 1903-1944
Loose photographs including portraits, images of Gill with box 3 folder 40-44 family and friends, Cuala Press workers, the Dail Eireann, and Gill holding a handgun, 1903-1944, undated box 16 folder 7
Album of friends and family at work and play, many in domestic box 14 or rural settings. Includes many pets and individuals with their bicycles, 1915-1924, undated
Album "To Maire from Kathleen 22-9-29," gift from Kathleen box 13 Clarke. Includes images of Clarke, her family and associates, Clann na Gael Camogie Teams, and the Yeats sisters, 1929
Album which belonged to Kathleen Byrne, inscribed "Happy box 6 Memories" on inside cover. Contains small black-and-white snapshots of friends and family, including trips to the United box 5 folder 15 States and Scotland. Some annotations, 1929, undated
Subseries G: Political materials, 1914-1926, 1950
"Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain & box 4 folder 1 Ireland" typescript copy, probably an early draft of Eamonn de Valera's "Document No. 2", circa 1922
Cumann na mBan materials, 1921-1923, 1950 box 4 folder 2-3
Invitation for Women's International League for Peace and box 4 folder 4 Freedom reception, 1926 July 8
The Irish National Volunteers, Dundrum, programs for a box 4 folder 5 weekend of theatrical productions, 1914
Kilmainham Prison, Office of Officer in Charge of Prisoners, box 4 folder 6 receipts, 1923
Prisoners' Dependents Cèilidh account sheet and draft letter box 4 folder 7 concerning John Courtney's pension, 1921 November 27
Publications: Republican War Bulletin Vol. 1, No. 20 cover box 4 folder 61 page and The Freeman's Journal, unidentified issue, page 2, 1922
Loretta Clarke Murray Collection of Women in Revolutionary Ireland MS.2016.016
- Page 14 - Subseries H: Vital records, 1946-1951, 1997
Birth certificate and genealogical notes about Gill's ancestry, box 4 folder 8 probably by Murray, 1946, 1997
Travel identity card, 1951 July 21 box 4 folder 9
Subseries I: Manuscripts, 1940-1976, undated
Diary entry, 1976 March box 4 folder 10
"Encouragement," a poem, undated box 4 folder 11
Notebook with costs for luncheon and tea at various locations box 4 folder 12 and a camogie match, 1940
"Tommy, Lad!" lyrics, transcription, undated box 4 folder 13
Untitled play, multiple drafts, 1950 box 4 folder 14
Series V: Maud Gonne, 1893-1949 Biographical note
Maud Gonne was born on December 21, 1866, in England.
An Irish patriot and suffragette, Gonne founded Inghinidhe na hÉireann, the Daughters of Ireland, in 1900 to promote the cause of Irish independence. The organization created the first women's journal to be published in Ireland, Bean na hÉireann, which ran until 1911. In 1914, Inghinidhe na hÉireann merged with Cumann na mBan.
Gonne was also a noted Irish actress and the muse of W. B. Yeats. She bore two children by French journalist Lucien Millevoye: Georges, who died as a baby, and Iseult. She married Major John MacBride in 1903 and together they had one son, Seán. Gonne and her husband separated in 1906, and she moved to France with Seán.
Major John MacBride participated in the 1916 Easter Rising and was executed for his involvement. Maud Gonne returned to Ireland in 1917 and began using her former husband's name again.
In 1918, Gonne was arrested with Countess Constance Markievicz under accusations of their involvement in a pro- German plot against Britain. She went on to be involved in the Irish War of Independence and stood against the Anglo-Irish Treaty. In 1922, she co-founded the Women's Prisoners' Defense League, which was banned a year later. The group was the first to use the lily as a symbol of the 1916 Easter Rising, which is still used today. Gonne was arrested again in 1923 for carrying Anti-Free State placards and was released from Kilmainham Gaol after staging a hunger strike with her fellow inmates.
Gonne published her autobiography, A Servant of the Queen, in 1938. She died on April 27, 1953.
Sources
Britannica Academic, s.v. "Maud Gonne," accessed June 28, 2018, https://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/ Maud-Gonne/37354.
"MAUD GONNE MACBRIDE." Glasnevin Trust. Accessed June 28, 2018. https://www.glasnevintrust.ie/visit- glasnevin/interactive-map/maud-gonne-macbride/.
Loretta Clarke Murray Collection of Women in Revolutionary Ireland MS.2016.016
- Page 15 - Custodial History
Murray acquired many of the Maud Gonne materials from Anna MacBride White, Maud's granddaughter.
Article, "Les Femmes Celebres," by Maud Gonne in La Femme box 16 folder 11 Chez Elle, 1902 July 1
Association de St. Patrice booklet with the society's history, box 4 folder 16 statutes, and leadership (in French), 1907
Banner, designed and embroidered by Maud Gonne, circa 1912 box 22 Link to digital version: http://hdl.handle.net/2345.2/ box 23 MS2016_016_89097 Physical Description Embroidery measures 120 cm wide by 97 cm high with fringe. Scope and Contents
Fringed, embroidered panel with mythological and national motifs. Gonne re-used several designs which she originally created as illustrations for her friend Ella Young's Celtic Wonder Tales (1910), including the Cauldron of Plenty, the Stone of Destiny, and the swans from the Children of Lir. The panel also contains the flags of the four provinces of Ireland: Ulster, Leinster, Munster, and Connacht.
Conditions Governing Access
Due to the size and fragility of this item, most use is limited to the digital version.
Correspondence to Mrs. Kirwan, 1949 January 19 box 4 folder 69
Correspondence to Vincent Crompton (also includes three letters box 3 folder 20 to Crompton not from Gonne), 1948-1949
Correspondence written while in Paris regarding publishing and a box 4 folder 68 monument to Augusta Holmes (in French), circa 1903, undated
Newspaper clipping: "Charged with Sedition: Madame Maud box 4 folder 17 Gonne Macbride on Trial in Dublin" , 1929 November 28
Newspaper clippings and reprints from French publications box 4 folder 17 regarding Gonne, 1893-1929, undated box 16 folder 8, 10
Photographs: portraits of Gonne and a group photograph of box 4 folder 21 Inghinidhe na hÉireann, 1893-1939, undated
Portrait, engraving of Gonne as a young woman, 1894 box 16 folder 9
Portrait, oil painting by Estella Frances Solomons, before 1968 object painting
Roebuck Jam labels, undated box 4 folder 22
Loretta Clarke Murray Collection of Women in Revolutionary Ireland MS.2016.016
- Page 16 - Historical Note
The Roebuck Jam Company was based on the grounds of Maud Gonne's home at Roebuck House in South County Dublin where jam was manufactured and sold for the the relief of prisoners.
Souvenir of the Anniversary Mass sung at Notre Dame de box 4 folder 23 Victoires in Paris in memory of the 1916 Easter Week heroes, 1920 April 23
Women's Prisoners' Defense League correspondence between box 4 folder 24 Gonne and the IRA Chief of Staff, 1929-1930, undated
Women's Prisoner's Defense League lists of Members of box 4 folder 19 Parliament in the House of Commons and other influential people, undated
Women's Prisoners' Defense League publicity broadsides and an box 4 folder 25 open letter to legislators, 1924-1931, undated
Series VI: Constance de Markievicz, 1912-1938, undated Biographical note
Countess Constance de Markievicz was born Constance Gore-Booth in 1868 in County Sligo, Ireland. She married Count Casimir Markievicz, an artist who already had a son, Stanislas, by his first marriage. Together they had a daughter, Maeve.
An actress with the Independent Dramatic Company, Markievicz was also involved with the Irish independence and suffrage movements. She was a member of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies and also worked with the Irish Citizen Army. Additionally, Markievicz co-founded Fianna Éireann and trained Irish boys in military skills.
During the 1916 Easter Rising, Markievicz served as second-in-command at St. Stephen's Green. She was arrested for her role in the rebellion and sent to Kilmainham Gaol, and later to Mountjoy Prison and then a prison in Aylesbury, England. She was sentenced to death for her involvement, but that sentence was reduced to life in prison because of her gender. She was eventually released in July 1917.
She was elected to Sinn Féin's executive council and then arrested again in 1918 for Sinn Fein's anti-conscription actions. That same year she ran as the candidate for Sinn Féin in the St. Patrick division of Dublin and won, becoming the first woman elected to British Parliament. She did not ever sit in the House of Commons, however, and was still in Holloway prison when her colleagues met for the Dáil Éireann, the revolutionary parliament of Ireland. She was appointed Minister of Labor by Éamon de Valera.
In March 1919 she was released from prison, only to be arrested again that same year for making seditious speeches. She moved around upon her release to avoid imprisonment, since Sinn Féin had become an illegal organization. However, she was arrested for a fourth time and had a long imprisonment at Mountjoy Prison. During the Irish War for Independence, Markievicz served as a sniper and was arrested for a fifth time while speaking in Dublin.
She died in 1927.
Sources
Eide, Marian. "Maeve's Legacy: Constance Markievicz, Eva Gore-Booth, and the Easter Rising." Éire-Ireland 51, no. 3 (2016): 80-103.
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- Page 17 - Patrick Allitt. "Markievicz, Constance (1868-1927).(Narrative Biography)." Encyclopedia of World Biography, 1998, Encyclopedia of World Biography, Edition 1, 1998.
Broadside, "This is where he was in 1921, then the treaty came box 4 folder 33 and the wind of liberty blew him out, now thus is he!" political cartoon from an original illustration by Countess Markievicz, circa 1922
Broadside, political cartoon of the newly formed Free state box 4 folder 35 illustrated by Countess Markievicz, undated
Newspaper clippings ("Sentence on Rebel Countess," 1916, and box 16 folder 12 recollections by her stepson on the 70th anniversary of her birth), 1916-1938
Photographs: Markievicz with a handgun (Topical Press Agency), box 4 folder 32 and photographic postcards of Markievicz as Joan of Arc and commemorating her role in the 1916 rebellion, undated
Program, Grangecolman and Unseen Kings featuring Helena box 4 folder 34 Moloney and Constance de Markievicz, Abbey Theatre, 1912
Series VII: Helena Moloney, 1946-1954 Biographical note
Helena Moloney was born in 1884 in Dublin, Ireland. In 1903 she joined Inghinidhe na hÉireann, a women's nationalist organization, and became the editor of Bean na hÉireann, the first women's journal to be published in Ireland. She was arrested in 1911 for participating in protests organized by Sinn Féin, but was released after fourteen days. As a member of the Citizen Army, she fought in the 1916 Easter Rising and was again imprisoned. After her release, she assisted Countess Constance Markievicz, the Minister of Labor in Dáil Éireann, and served as a District Justice in the Republican court in Rathmines. In the 1930s she was active in the Women's Prisoners' Defense League and also became president of the Irish Trade Union Congress, a position she held for ten years.
Moloney died in January 1967.
Sources
"HELENA MOLONEY." Glasnevin Trust. Accessed June 28, 2018. https://www.glasnevintrust.ie/visit-glasnevin/ interactive-map/helena-moloney/.
Subseries A: Correspondence Scope and Contents
All correspondence is to Moloney except the final letter, which appears to have been authored by her.
Gonne, Iseult, 1946 November 19 box 4 folder 26
Gortz, Hermann, 1946 December 6 box 4 folder 27
Multiple correspondents concerning the Markievicz Memorial, box 4 folder 28 1952-1953, undated
---, Maedh, from Moloney, 1946 December 5 box 4 folder 29
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- Page 18 - Subseries B: Exercise books, 1954, undated box 4 folder 30 Scope and Contents
Contain manuscript drafts (many partial) of letters, event plans, and articles.
Series VIII: Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington, 1923, undated Biographical note
Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington was born on May 24, 1877, in County Cork, Ireland. Her father was David Sheehy, a Land Leaguer and Irish Parliamentary Party Member of Parliament. In 1903 she married Francis Skeffington.
As supporters of women's rights, the Sheehy-Skeffingtons co-founded the Irish Women's Franchise League, a militant suffrage organization, in 1908 with Margaret Cousins. Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington was also one of the founding members of the Irish Women's Workers Union. She also wrote for the Irish Citizen, a paper she started with Francis. In 1912, Sheehy-Skeffington was arrested for throwing rocks at Dublin Castle's windows in a protest for women's rights and was imprisoned again in 1913 for protesting against Edward Carson.
During the 1916 Easter Rising, Francis, a pacifist, was arrested while attempting to stop looting and was executed by a firing squad without a trial on the orders of British army captain John Bowen-Colthurst. Bowen-Colthurst was later court martialed and sent to an asylum, but was released after eighteen months.
Sheehy-Skeffington published a pamphlet, "British Militarism As I Have Known It," in 1917, which detailed her husband's murder and the aftermath. Until 1918, she toured the United States, giving lectures on her story. Her pamphlet went on to be re-published many times.
In 1946, Sheehy-Skeffington ran unsuccessfully for the Dáil Éireann with the Women's Social and Progressive League.
She died on April 20, 1946.
Sources
Butler, Leah. "Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington: The Life and Times of the Great Irish Suffragette." Women's Museum of Ireland | Articles | Kathleen Clarke. Accessed June 28, 2018. http://womensmuseumofireland.ie/articles/hanna- sheehy-skeffington.
Devlin, Martina. "Born Fighter: Irish Feminist Hanna Sheehy Skeffington." Independent.ie. October 13, 2017. Accessed June 28, 2018. https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/book-reviews/born-fighter-irish-feminist- hanna-sheehy-skeffington-36222445.html.
Rosenbusch, Anne. "HANNA SHEEHY SKEFFINGTON / Suffragette & Republican." Herstory. Accessed June 28, 2018. http://www.herstory.ie/news/2017/4/27/hanna-sheehy-skeffington-suffragette-republican.
Letter to the Delegates of the League of Nations, Geneva arguing box 4 folder 36 that the Free State does not represent the Irish nation, unsigned typescript (two copies, one in French), 1923 September
Photographic postcards, one a portrait of Sheehy-Skeffington in box 4 folder 37 cap and gown and the other of a group of women at a suffragette rally, undated
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- Page 19 - Series IX: Margaret Skinnider, circa 1916 Biographical note
Margaret Skinnider was born in Scotland around 1893. She was a mathematics teacher in Glasgow until she resigned to join the Irish independence movement.
At the end of 1915, Skinnider travelled to Dublin at the invitation of Constance Markievicz. She made a plan of the Beggar's Bush barracks, which were shown to James Connolly, to assess where to possibly place explosives.
After joining the Citizen Army, Skinnider returned again to Dublin for the 1916 Easter Rising. She transported hidden ammunition to Liberty Hall, served as a dispatch rider for Michael Mallin at St. Stephen's Green, and was a sniper with four men under her command tasked with setting fire to a building to cut off a retreating British force. During the rebellion she was shot three times and spent seven weeks in the hospital.
As a member of Cumann na mBan Skinnider went to the United States for a propaganda tour in December 1916. When she returned, she trained volunteer recruits and played a role in the Irish War of Independence. From 1922-1923 she was imprisoned in Mountjoy Prison and the North Dublin Union. After her release, Skinnider taught in Dublin and, in 1949, became a member of the Irish National Teachers' Organization, of which she became president in 1956.
Skinnider died in October 1971.
Sources
Power, Maggie. "Margaret Skinnider: Rebel of 1916." Women's Museum of Ireland | Articles | Kathleen Clarke. Accessed June 28, 2018. http://womensmuseumofireland.ie/articles/margaret-skinnider.
Journal of Easter Week, manuscript in a lined notebook with box 4 folder 38 markings every 100 words, circa 1916
Series X: Elizabeth Corbet Yeats, 1913-1973 Biographical note
Elizabeth Corbet Yeats (known by her family as "Lollie") was born on March 11, 1868, in London, the third surviving child of John Butler Yeats and Susan Mary Pollexfen. In the 1880s she began writing and contributed to The Pleiades, an amateur magazine she created with friends. She completed training as a kindergarten teacher in 1892 and taught art for several years afterwards. She worked as a publisher during this time. In 1900 Elizabeth and her sister Lily became the guardians of their fifteen-year-old cousin, Ruth Pollexfen, and shortly after they moved to Dublin. In 1902 they helped to found the Dun Emer Press, and in 1908 they began their own business, Cuala Industries. In her capacity as the head of Cuala Press, Elizabeth oversaw production of a number of her brother W. B.'s books and also did a good business selling cards, calendars, and prints. However, as Elizabeth grew older and began to suffer from ill health, her ability to run the business declined. On January 16, 1940, she died of heart failure in Dublin.
Sources
Allen, Nicholas. "Yeats, Elizabeth Corbet ('Lollie')." In Cambridge Dictionary of Irish Biography. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. http://dib.cambridge.org/viewReadPage.do?articleId=a9156
Coleman, Zoë. "Susan and Elizabeth, the Yeats Sisters: From the Dun Emer Guild to Cuala Industries." Women's Museum of Ireland. http://womensmuseumofireland.ie/articles/susan-and-elizabeth-the-yeats-sisters
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- Page 20 - Dargavel, John. "Charles and Ruth Lane Poole: Lives." National Archives of Australia. http://www.naa.gov.au/ collection/snapshots/uncommon-lives/charles-and-ruth-lane-poole/lives.aspx
Newspaper clippings ("Her Fortune is in Books," photograph of box 16 folder 13 Dun Emer Press with Yeats at the printing press, and obituaries), 1937-1973
Photographic portraits, 1913, 1926 box 4 folder 39
Watercolors, four landscapes, all signed, one annotated "Inch Co. box 29 folder 1-4 Kerry", 1913, undated
Series XI: Irish arts and culture, 1900-1959, undated
Caricature by Grace Gifford of Professor Mahaffy of Trinity box 5 folder 19 College entitled "A Famous Greek Scholar: Design for a Greek Vase" published in Irish Life, clipping, 1913 April
Correspondence in Irish sending blessings on St. Stephen's Day, box 5 folder 3 signed "Paddy," recipient unknown, 1909
Correspondence, Padraic Colum to Hartley, 1959 May 18 box 5 folder 1
Correspondence, W.B. Yeats to unidentified recipient, undated box 5 folder 2
Etchings by Estella Frances Solomons, including Dublin-area box 16 folder 16 landscapes and a self-portrait (13 items, original but unsigned, un- editioned), undated
Jewelry, oval bog oak brooch with Irish harp in center surrounded box 18 object 6 by shamrocks and phrase "Erin Go Bragh," in Louis Wine, Ltd. jeweler's box, undated
Jewelry, Queen's visit gold pin with letters "VR" and three box 18 object 7 shamrocks, in original commemorative box, 1900
Jewelry, round silver brooch attributed to Mia Cranwill, with Arts box 18 object 5 and Crafts design motifs and small garnet and mother-of-pearl embellishments, in Tadema Gallery jeweler's box, circa 1920
Jewelry, Tara style brooch, copper with blue enamel, early 1900s box 18 object 2
Jewelry, Tara style brooches worn by Inghinidhe na hÉireann box 18 object 3-4 members (2 brooches in gold-toned metal, one engraved "Inghinidhe na hÉireann"), between 1900-1914
Photographic portrait of an Irish woman, probably early 1900s box 5 folder 6 Processing Information
The photograph is signed in Irish, but the signature could not be deciphered at the time of processing.
Photograph of three people in front of a tree, 1920s or 1930s box 5 folder 7
Loretta Clarke Murray Collection of Women in Revolutionary Ireland MS.2016.016
- Page 21 - Processing Information
This photograph may belong with the Mollie Gill albums, but it was disassociated at time of receipt.
Photographs of Augusta Holmes (collectible cards), undated box 5 folder 4
Photographs showing Wynn's Hotel, Dublin in 1845, 1916, and box 5 folder 5 probably 1990s (photographic postcards), circa 1990s
Poem broadsides, undated box 5 folder 10-12
Program for the National Literary Society Annual Ceilidh, 1915 box 5 folder 20 November 22
Stamp, Slainte "Christmas Health and Wealth" fundraising stamp, box 5 folder 21 with a photocopy of the Vol. 1, No. 11 issue explaining the history of the annual stamp, circa 1909
Theater: Lady Augusta Gregory photographic postcards, box 5 folder 22 one promoting "Spreading the News" at the Abbey Theatre (postmarked), and another a portrait of Gregory, 1904, undated
Theater programs, 1905-1936, undated box 5 folder 23-28 box 17
Watercolor by Michael MacLiammoir, "The Stolen Child," based box 29 folder 5 on the poem of the same name by W.B. Yeats, undated
Series XII: Irish independence, 1899-1997
"Advice to Chairmen of Open Air Meetings" pamphlet, 1927 box 4 folder 40
Address to the American-Irish Unity Committee by Sean box 5 folder 16 MacBride, 1981 July 22
"The Battle Hymn," by Countess Markievicz, transcribed by box 4 folder 31 Florrie Ryan with note "Sung in New Ross during B & T Period", undated
Book review: "Dorothy Macardle: A Life," by Nadia Clare Smith, box 4 folder 41 circa 2007
Correspondence to Edmund Downey from Annie M. P. Smithson, box 4 folder 42 1922-1926
Easter Week Commemoration booklet, 1947 box 4 folder 43
Election advertisement, undated box 4 folder 44
Executive Committee of the Indian Irish Independence League box 4 folder 45 minutes (Maud Gonne, chair), 1936 January-February
Green Cross Fund program, 1944 September 23 box 4 folder 46
"Guns and Chiffon," article clipping from History Ireland about box 4 folder 47 the women prisoners exhibit at Kilmainham Jail, 1997
Handbills, 1917-1922, undated box 4 folder 48
Loretta Clarke Murray Collection of Women in Revolutionary Ireland MS.2016.016
- Page 22 - IRA adhesive stickers, undated box 4 folder 49
Irish National Aid and Volunteer Dependents' Fund, Irish Concert box 4 folder 50 program, 1917 June 27
Kilmainham Jail postcards, undated box 4 folder 51
Kilmainham Jail "Souvenir of Your Visit to Kilmainham Jail" box 4 folder 60 program honoring Sean Heuston, 1938 March 20
Kilmainham Jail women prisoners autograph books (2 items), box 12 1923 box 15 Processing Information
Both books were re-bound before their receipt by Boston College.
Lectures on medical treatments, undated box 4 folder 52
Newspaper clippings about Irish independence, 1920-1948 box 16 folder 15
Newspaper special edition: "En Ireland: Manifestation contre M. box 16 folder 14 Chamberlain" in Le Petit Journal, 1899 December 31
The O'Hanrahan's trade card advertising Republican stationery, box 4 folder 53 Irish songbooks, textiles, and patriotic books, undated
Open letter to jurors from "Ghosts," regarding the trials of James box 4 folder 54 Tierney, James Kearns, Thomas Coates, Edmund Thataberry, and David Fitzgerald, 1929 November
Photographs of John MacBride and Sean MacDermott, undated box 4 folder 55-56
Political cartoons by Grace Plunkett, undated box 4 folder 57
Prisoners' Dependents Fund label, undated box 4 folder 58
Sinn Féin fund collection authorization slip and letterhead, 1921, box 4 folder 59 undated
Sinn Féin president's address at the 39th annual Ard-Fheis by box 5 folder 17 Margaret Buckley, typescript, 1946 November
"To Likely Young Men," by D. W., 1900 March 17 box 20 folder 2
United Ireland embroidered panel with linked emblems of the four box 21 provinces, a sunburst, round tower, wolfhound, and harp, and an American flag and eagle at one side, undated Physical Description 600 x 515mm
War of Independence (Cogadh na Saoirse) service medal, in box 18 object 12 original pale green box with a slip printed "With the compliments of the President of Ireland", 1941
Series XIII: Women's suffrage, circa 1900-2008
The Angel of Freedom postcard, 1913 box 4 folder 62
Loretta Clarke Murray Collection of Women in Revolutionary Ireland MS.2016.016
- Page 23 - "Certificates and Testimonials of Alice L. Milligan" unbound box 5 folder 18 printed pages, cover and first page with Milligan's college grades only, after 1887
Irish Women and the Vote: Suffrage and Citizenship conference box 4 folder 63 program from the National Museum of Ireland, 2008 May 24
Irish Women's Franchise League dance ticket, 1914 November 27 box 4 folder 64
Irish Women's Franchise League, "Votes for Women" paper bag, box 4 folder 65 between 1908-1920
St. Ultan's Infant Hospital brochure and St. Ultan's Week program, box 5 folder 8-9 1919, undated Historical note
St. Ultans Hospital for Infants was founded in 1919 by Dr. Kathleen Florence Lynn (1874-1955), a suffragette, labor activist, nationalist, a member of the Irish Citizen Army (ICA) and chief medical officer during the 1916 Easter Rising, and Madeleine ffrench-Mullen, a suffragette, nationalist, and a member of the ambulance corps and sergeant in the ICA. The hospital was managed entirely by women, and its mission was to provide medical services and education to improve the health of lower-income women and children in the Dublin area.
Source:
"St. Ultans, a women's hospital for infants." History Ireland, v. 13, issue 4, 2005 July/August.
The Woman-Worker (An-Bean-Oibre), volume 1, numbers 3 and box 4 folder 67 8, 1926 July-December
"Women Wont Blackleg" label, undated box 4 folder 66
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