English artist and suffrage activist Evelyn Gleeson moved to Ireland to improve her health in 1902 and bought a house named Runnymede in Dundrum, a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. She renamed it Dun Emer, combining the topographical term for foothills, "Dun," and "Emer," an Irish mythological figure famed for beauty, voice, wisdom, chastity, needlework, and noble speech. The house served as Gleeson's home and was the birthplace of the Dun Emer Guild, which she founded in 1902 alongside Elizabeth Corbet Yeats and Lily Yeats to promote Irish crafts and employ Irish women.

In the Guild, Gleeson oversaw production of carpets, tapestries, and rugs, while Lily Yeats ran the embroidery portion, and Elizabeth C. Yeats supervised the printing operations. In 1904, the crafts studio was divided into two parts: Dun Emer Guild under Gleeson, and Dun Emer Industries under the Yeats sisters. In 1908, the Yeats split off to become Cuala Industries, taking the press functions with them. Gleeson retained the naming rights to Dun Emer and the craft studio branch, continuing to make textiles out of her home. In 1911, Gleeson’s widowed sister, Constance MacCormack, and her children, Grace, Katherine (“Kitty”), and Edward, moved into Dun Emer, joining Gleeson. Grace and Kitty worked in the Guild as well. In 1912, the Guild workrooms moved out of Gleeson's home to Mangan Hall, in Dublin.

Dun Emer continued as Gleeson’s home until her death in 1944.

Sources:

Papers of Evelyn Gleeson and the Dun Emer Guild, IE TCD MS 10676, Trinity College Library Dublin.

YouWho. “Gleeson of Dun Emer.” Accessed May 1, 2026. https://www.youwho.ie/gleeson.html.

YouWho. “Runnymede.” Accessed May 1, 2026. https://www.youwho.ie/runnymede.html.

Ellen F. O’Connor, born to Bartholomew and Joanna O'Connor in 1874 in Brookline, Massachusetts, was an art teacher in Massachusetts public schools. She taught in Dedham, Chelsea, and Boston at the high school level. In addition to teaching art and drawing, she researched Irish art and archaeology and gave lectures in Boston. Her annual Irish art lectures in the Boston Public Library lecture hall were at capacity for ten years. She also participated in music events around Boston as a member of the Handel and Haydn Society and a vocal soloist at the Mission Church, Roxbury. Thanks to Boston Public Schools’ sabbatical policy, she was able to travel the world.

O'Connor died in 1943 and was buried with her parents and siblings Charles, Arthur, Katherine, Agnes, and Rose in Holyhood Cemetery in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Sources:

Digital Commonwealth. “Boston Public Library: Ellen F. O’Connor Collection.” Accessed May 1, 2026. https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/collections/commonwealth:6395x8833.

"Ellen F. O'Connor: Art Teacher, Lecturer and Singer was 69." 1943, Oct 29. Daily Boston Globe (1928-1960), 31.

Mná 100. “American Eye Witness: Bostonian Ellen F O’Connor ‘aftermath of the Battle of Dublin.’” Accessed May 1, 2026.https://www.mna100.ie/centenary-moments/ellen-f-oconnor-aftermath-of-the-battle-of-dublin/.

The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715; RG Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; RG: 85

Year: 1880; Census Place: Brookline, Norfolk, Massachusetts; Roll: 547; Page: 334d; Enumeration District: 508