Mabel McConnell Fitzgerald
| Mabel McConnell Fitzgerald | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Mabel McConnell 4 July 1884 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Died | 24 April 1958 (aged 73) Dublin, Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Spouse(s) | Desmond FitzGerald |
| Children | Garret FitzGerald |
Mabel Washington McConnell Fitzgerald (4 July 1884 – 24 April 1958) was an Irish republican, suffragette, and socialist. She took part in the 1916 Easter Rising and the Irish War of Independence. She was the mother of Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald.
Born Mabel Washington McConnell on 4 July 1884, she was the daughter of John McConnell, a whiskey salesman from Belfast, and his wife Margaret Neill. She was the granddaughter of a Presbyterian farmer near the city. McConnell received her early education at Victoria College in Belfast, and went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts from Queen's University Belfast in 1906. At Queen's, she developed her positions on republicanism, women's rights and her socialist politics along with her sister Eilis. She had a strong interest in the Irish language. She was a member of the Women's Social and Political Union, Sinn Féin and the Gaelic League.
After graduating, McConnell was secretary to the President of Queen's University before moving to London in 1908 to complete a postgraduate teaching certificate in Saint Mary’s Training College, Paddington. She worked for a time as a school teacher in Ilford. In 1909, she was a secretary to George Bernard Shaw for several months while his permanent secretary, Judy Gilmore, was ill. She continued to remain friends with Shaw and his wife, maintaining a correspondence for a number of years.
McConnell met her husband Desmond FitzGerald in London in 1910 at a language seminar run by the Gaelic League, of which she was a committee member. She was the more passionate radical, but to see her, FitzGerald attended political meetings and soon became as active. In March 1911 she did secretarial work for George Moore. In later years FitzGerald wrote to Shaw to urge him to support Irish separatism.
She and FitzGerald eloped in 1911 when she discovered she was pregnant; they lived in France until moving to Dingle, Co. Kerry in March 1913. They were later expelled from Kerry by the British as they were suspected of signalling the Germans. The couple then moved to Bray. They had four children: Desmond (1912–1987), Pierce (1914–1986), Fergus (1920–1983) and Garret (1926–2011). Her son Garret followed his father into Irish politics, becoming Taoiseach twice.
...
Wikipedia