COMERFORD, M¡IRE 

Reference code:

IE UCDAD LA18

1 box

Biographical history

Born and brought up in Rathdrum, County Wicklow, M·ire went to London to receive an education as a secretary and became interested in the cause of Irish independence. On her return, she joined Sinn FÈin in Gorey and was a witness to the events of the Easter Rising in Dublin. She gained employment with Alice Stopford-Green and met many of the major figures involved in the War of Independence during her time in residence with Mrs Stopford-Green on St Stephenís Green. During the Civil War, M·ire joined the White Cross and was in the Four Courts during the last days before its destruction. She was also involved in travelling to America to raise money for Sinn FÈin.

In 1935, M·ire joined the Irish Press as a journalist and stayed with the newspaper until her retirement in 1965. Throughout her life M·ire was heavily involved in the republican cause and was arrested at the age of eighty-one on a Sinn FÈin platform in Dublin. She has one published work entitled The First D·il, January 21^st 1919 in which she examined the formation and working of the first D·il Šireann.

Scope and content

Draft of her unpublished memoirs relating events and experiences from her childhood to the end of the Civil War and including accounts and opinions of the major contemporary figures and developments.

Also contains some historical research notes including correspondence with Diarmuid Brennan concerning a manuscript about the death of Michael Collins. Other material relates to research and correspondence on Anna Parnell, sister of Charles Stewart Parnell and founder of the Ladies Land League, and material on general issues including prison conditions.

Access:

Available by appointment to holders of a UCDAD reader’s ticket