Mary Byrne (1917–2004) was the

Mayor of Galway The office of Mayor of Galway is an honorific title used by the of Galway City Council. The council has jurisdiction throughout its administrative area of the city of Galway which is the largest city in the province of Connacht, in Ireland. Th ...

from 1975 to 1976 and again from 1984 to 1985. One of two children of Michael Byrne of

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, standing on the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Down, Down and County Armagh, Armagh. It is near Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, the border with the ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

, and Brigid Kelly of Garafine,

Ballymacward Ballymacward () is a village in County Galway, Ireland. It is on the R359 road (Ireland), R359 road, between that road and the rail lines traversing east–west. The village is from Ballinasloe and approximately from Galway city. The village ...

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

, she trained as a nurse in the city's old Central Hospital and later worked as a staff-nurse at Galway Regional Hospital. She eventually became a Sister and worked in the Casualty Department for twenty-two years. She was a member of the Western Health Board from 1970 to 1988 representing General Nurses. She served as Chairperson of the Galway Branch of the Irish Nurses Organisation as well as being a member of its National Executive for many years. Politically active due to her father's influence, Byrne was an active member of

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...

from the 1940s, and successfully ran for election to Galway Corporation in 1967, serving eighteen years as a Councillor. She was the first woman ever to run for Fianna Fáil in the West Galway Constituency in a General Election when she was selected as the running mate for Johnny Geoghegan and Bobby Molloy in the 1969 General Election. She created history on 30 June 1975 when she became the first woman to be elected Mayor of the City of Galway. Her first term of office coincided with

International Women's Year International Women's Year (IWY) was the name given to 1975 by the United Nations. Since that year March 8 has been celebrated as International Women's Day, and the United Nations Decade for Women, from 1976 to 1985, was also established. History ...

. She was re-elected for the term 1984–1985, the

Quincentennial An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded. Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called national days. These could be the date of independence of the nation or the adoption o ...

year of the

Mayoralty In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

. In commemoration of this, Galway's Quincentennial Bridge, spanning the

River Corrib The River Corrib ( Irish: ''Abhainn na Gaillimhe'') in the west of Ireland flows from Lough Corrib through Galway to Galway Bay. The river is among the shortest in Europe, with only a length of six kilometres from the lough to the Atlantic. I ...

from Terryland to Newcastle, was begun. The foundation stone was laid by the Tánaiste,

Dick Spring Richard Martin Spring (born 29 August 1950) is an Irish former Labour Party (Ireland), Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste from 1982 to 1987, 1992 to November 1994, and December 1994 to 1997, Leader of the Labour Party (Ireland), L ...

, on 15 December 1984. The following May, Byrne laid the foundation stone of the new City Hall at College Road, which was in use by 1991. During a long career in public life she served on several Boards including Comhairle na n-Ospideal and the City of Galway VEC. She was Chairman of the Board of Galway Technical Institute up to the time of her death. She died 16 January 2004.

References

* ''Role of Honour:The Mayors of Galway City 1485-2001'', William Henry, Galway 2001.

External links

Listing of previous Mayors of Galway
Mayors of Galway 1917 births 2004 deaths Politicians from County Galway Fianna Fáil candidates in Dáil elections {{Ireland-mayor-stub