Maeve Hillery (; 14 August 1924 – 10 January 2015) was an Irish anaesthetist who was the wife of the 6th

President of Ireland The president of Ireland () is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The presidency is a predominantly figurehead, ceremonial institution, serving as ...

, Patrick Hillery.

Life and family

Mary Beatrice Finnegan was born on 14 August 1924 in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

. Her father was a builder from

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

, and her mother was half-Irish. Hillery would holiday in Ireland as a child, and, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, she attended a boarding school in Galway for a year. She entered University College Galway (UCG), and qualified as a doctor. She then attended University College Dublin (UCD), where she studied to become an anaesthetist. It was here that she met her future husband, Patrick Hillery, who was also studying medicine. She worked in Jervis Street Hospital, St James' Hospital, and in Sheffield. The couple married on 27 October 1955. The Hillerys practised medicine together in Milltown Malbay while her husband was a TD. Together they had a son, John, and an adopted daughter, Vivienne. Vivienne died in 1987 from leukemia. Hillery died in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, on 10 January 2015. She was buried in St Fintan's Cemetery, Sutton.

Career

Hillery's husband served in a number of political roles, including

foreign minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

and European Commissioner. After the completion of his term as a European Commissioner in 1976, he contemplated leaving politics and returning to medicine. Instead, Hillery was asked to become the sixth President of Ireland. The woollen cloak she worn to her husband's inauguration as president is now held in the collections of the National Museum of Ireland at Collins Barracks. She used a number of Irish designers during her 13 years in Áras an Uachtaráin, highlighting Irish design and materials. During the few rare interviews Hillery gave she spoke about the enormous upkeep and maintenance the presidential residence required, its unsuitability as a family home, and undertook the restoration of parts of the house. Due to her husband's career, Hillery did give up practising medicine, but she undertook a course in public health at University of Louvain, and a diploma in child care. She maintained a particular interest in children's mental health, was part of a research committee at St Michael's House, and worked with Dr Victoria Coffey on her study of Down Syndrome. She also learnt Irish Sign Language. Hillery served as the patron and president of a number of charities and voluntary groups including the Ana Liffey Drug Project, Care Alliance Ireland, Femscan, the National Association for the Mentally Handicapped, and the Association for Deaf Children. She was among a number of prominent Irish women who contributed recipes to a book, ''Welcome To Our Kitchen'', which was produced by Femscan to raise money towards Ireland's first mobile breast cancer screening unit.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillery, Maeve 1924 births 2015 deaths Irish anaesthetists Spouses of presidents of Ireland Irish women medical doctors 20th-century Irish women medical doctors Women anesthesiologists Alumni of the University of Galway Alumni of University College Dublin