Clarke, Kathleen, 1878-1972
Dates
- Existence: 1878 - 1972
Biographical Note
Born in Limerick in 1878 into a republican family, her father had been arrested for Fenian activities and her uncle, John Daly, sentenced to life imprisonment. In 1901, she moved to New York to marry Thomas Clarke. After returning to Ireland in 1907, Kathleen Clarke played a role in Cumann na mBan from its 1914 inception, organizing the central office, lecturing, and pamphleteering. During the Easter Rising, she was arrested. Afterwards, her husband and brother were court-martialed and executed. She formed the Committee of the Irish Volunteer Dependents Fund to aid dependents of imprisoned and executed volunteers. In 1918, she was elected vice-president of Cumann na mBan and to the executive of Sinn Fein. She campaigned against conscription and was arrested for treasonable conspiracy, spending nine months in prison. She was elected to the second Dail in 1920,lost her seat in 1922, regained and lost it again in 1927. She left Sinn Fein and joined Fianna Fail. From 1927 to 1936, Clarke served as a Fianna Fail Senator; however, she disagreed with Fianna Fail policies that she thought contradicted provisions concerning women in the 1916 proclamation. Clarke was elected the first female Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1939. She disagreed with de Valera and Fianna Fail over treatment of republican prisoners during the 1940s. At the end of her mayoral term in 1944, Clarke retired from Fianna Fail.
Social Networks and Archival Context (SNAC) Identifier
Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:
Kathleen Daly Clarke papers and collection of Thomas Clarke and Irish political materials
The collection contains the personal and professional papers of Kathleen Daly Clarke (1878-1972), a founding member of Cumann na mBan and an Irish politician, as well as her collection of materials about her husband Thomas Clarke and Irish politics in the first half of the twentieth century. Materials include correspondence, photographs, artwork, clippings, and publications and ephemera circulated by Irish political groups, including Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail.
Collection is open for research.
Boston College collection of Constance de Markievicz
The collection primarily consists of correspondence of Irish politician, revolutionary, nationalist, and suffragist Constance de Markiewicz. Also includes posthumous materials documenting the 150th anniversary of Markievicz's birth and more, including biographies, newspaper clippings, exhibit ephemera, a real estate catalog, and photographs.
Collection is open for research.