Kathleen Clarke

Kathleen Clarke, née Daly (Irish: Caitlín Bean Uí Chléirigh; 11 April 1878 – 29 September 1972) was a founder member of Cumann na mBan, and one of very few privy to the plans of the Easter Rising in 1916. She was subsequently a TD and Senator with both Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil and the first female Lord Mayor of Dublin (1939–41).

Kathleen Daly was born in Limerick in 1878, the third daughter of Edward and Catherine Daly. She was born into a prominent Fenian family. Her paternal uncle, John Daly, a subsequent Mayor of Limerick, was at the time imprisoned for his political activities in Chatham and Portland Prisons in England. Her uncle was released in 1896 and returned home to Limerick. At this time Kathleen had started a drapery business having previously begun an apprenticeship. When Tom Clarke, who had been imprisoned with her uncle, was released in 1898 he travelled to Limerick to receive the Freedom of the City and stayed with the Daly family.

In 1901 she ceased her business in the city as she had decided to emigrate to the United States to join Tom who had been there since 1900, having secured work through his Fenian contacts. They married on 16 July 1901 in New York City and lived in both the Bronx and Brooklyn areas of the city. They had three children together. Through his contacts in the Clan na Gael and the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), Tom Clarke continued to be involved in nationalist activity. Kathleen joined the Gaelic League while in the USA and they returned to Ireland in November 1907 They opened a tobaconnist shop, initially at 75A Parnell Street, Dublin and then at 77 Amiens Street, Dublin.

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