Mary Kenny (born 4 April 1944) is an Irish journalist, broadcaster and playwright. A founding member of the

Irish Women's Liberation Movement The Irish Women's Liberation Movement (IWLM) was an alliance of a group of Irish women who were concerned about the sexism within Ireland both socially and legally. They first began after a meeting in Dublin's Bewley's Cafe on Grafton Street in 1 ...

, she was one of the country's first and foremost

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

s, often contributes columns to the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...

'' and has been described as "the grand dame of Irish journalism". She is based in England.

Early life and family

Mary Kenny was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, Ireland. Her father was born in 1877. She grew up in

Sandymount Sandymount () is an affluent coastal suburb in the Dublin 4 district on the Southside of Dublin in Ireland. Etymology An early name for the area was Scal'd Hill or Scald Hill.

, and was expelled from convent school at age 16. She had a sister, Ursula.

Career

She began working at the London ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' in 1966 on its "

Londoner's Diary "Londoner's Diary" is a gossip column in the London ''Evening Standard''. Since 1916 the column has provided readers with witty and mischievous insights into high society; from political scandals and literary feuds to the backstage gossip at fas ...

" column, later as a general feature writer, and was woman's editor of ''

The Irish Press ''The Irish Press'' (Irish: ''Scéala Éireann'') was an Irish national daily newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995. Foundation The paper's first issue was published on the eve of the 1931 All-Ireland ...

'' in the early 1970s.

Irish Women's Liberation Movement

Kenny was one of the founding members of the Irish Women's Liberation Movement. Although the group had no formal structure of officials, she was often seen as the "ring leader" of the group. In March 1971, as part of an action by the IWLM, she walked out of Haddington Road church after the Archbishop of Dublin's pastoral was read out from the pulpit, confirming that "any contraceptive act is always wrong", saying "this is Church dictatorship". In a follow-up letter to ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' she explained her actions by saying

Ian Paisley Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, (6 April 1926 – 12 September 2014) was a Northern Irish loyalist politician and Protestant religious leader who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 1971 to 2008 and First ...

was right: "Home Rule is Rome Rule". In 1971, Kenny travelled with

Nell McCafferty Nell McCafferty (born 28 March 1944) is an Irish journalist, playwright, civil rights campaigner and feminist. She has written for ''The Irish Press'', ''The Irish Times'', ''Sunday Tribune'', ''Hot Press'' and '' The Village Voice''. Early li ...

June Levine June is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the second of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the third of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. June contains the summer solstice in t ...

and other

Irish feminists Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

on the so-called "

Contraceptive Train The Contraceptive Train was a women's rights activism event which took place on 22 May 1971. Members of the Irish Women's Liberation Movement (IWLM), in protest against the law prohibiting the importation and sale of contraceptives in the Republi ...

" from Dublin to

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

to buy condoms, then illegal within the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

. Later that year she returned to London as Features Editor of the ''Evening Standard''.

"Ugandan discussions"

In 1973, Kenny was allegedly "disturbed in the arms of a former

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘ prime minister� ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Obote Obote is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Milton Obote Apollo Milton Obote (28 December 1925 – 10 October 2005) was a Ugandan political leader who led Uganda to independence from British colonial rule in 1962. Following t ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The ...

during a party", which led poet

James Fenton James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

to coin the euphemism "

Ugandan discussions The fortnightly British satirical magazine ''Private Eye'' has long had a reputation for using euphemistic and irreverent substitute names and titles for people, groups and organisations and has coined a number of expressions to describe sex, dr ...

" to mean sexual intercourse. The phrase was first used by the magazine ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised for its prominent critici ...

'' on 9 March 1973, but has been widely used since then and was included by the BBC in a list of "The 10 most scandalous euphemisms" in 2013.

Works

Kenny has written for numerous

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner and tabloid–compact formats. Description Many broadsheets measure roughly ...

publications in Ireland and Britain, including the ''

'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', ''

The Irish Catholic ''The Irish Catholic'' is a 40-page Irish weekly newspaper providing news and commentary about the Catholic Church. The newspaper is privately owned by editor-in-chief Garry O’Sullivan, managed by a private limited company and independent of ...

'', ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' and ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''Th ...

''. She has written books on

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in Ireland and a personal biography of

William Joyce William Brooke Joyce (24 April 1906 – 3 January 1946), nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw, was an American-born fascist and Nazi propaganda broadcaster during the Second World War. After moving from New York to Ireland and subsequently to England, ...

. Roy Foster described ''Crown and Shamrock: Love and Hate between Ireland and the British Monarchy'' (2009) as "characteristically breezy, racy and insightful".Roy Foste
"Strong family feelings"
, ''

'', 6 January 2010. She wrote the play ''Allegiance'', in which

Mel Smith Melvyn Kenneth Smith (3 December 1952 – 19 July 2013) was an English comedian, actor and director. Smith worked on the sketch comedy shows ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' and ''Alas Smith and Jones'' with his comedy partner, Griff Rhys Jones. ...

played

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

and

Michael Fassbender Michael Fassbender (born 2 April 1977) is an Irish actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and nominations for two Academy Awards, four British Academy Film Award ...

played

Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and ...

in a performance at the 2006

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh F ...

Personal life

Kenny married journalist and writer Richard West in 1974 and the couple raised two children: Patrick and Ed West, both journalists. Richard died in 2015.

Bibliography

Non-fiction

*''Women X Two: How to Cope with a Double Life'' (1978) *''Why Christianity Works'' (1981) *''Making the Family Matter: A New Vision of Expanded Family Living with Practical Ideas to Make it Work'' (co-authored with James Kenny) (1980) *''Goodbye to Catholic Ireland: A Social Person and Cultural History'' (1997) *''Death by Heroin; Recovery by Hope'' (1999) * ''Germany Calling: A Personal Biography of William Joyce, Lord Haw-Haw''. Dublin: New Island Books. .

Editor

*''The Long Road Back: The Story of a Triumph Over Sudden and Total Disablement'' by Bill Ellis

Fiction

*''A Mood for Love and Other Stories''

References

External links

Mary Kenny's home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenny, Mary 1944 births Irish Independent people Irish Roman Catholics Irish birth control activists Irish expatriates in England Irish feminists Irish women journalists Irish women's rights activists Living people London Evening Standard people People from Sandymount The Daily Telegraph people The Guardian journalists The Irish Press people The Times journalists

Early life and family

Career

Irish Women's Liberation Movement

"Ugandan discussions"

Works

Personal life

Bibliography

Non-fiction

Editor

Fiction

See also

References

External links