Mary Kate Ryan (31 October 1878 – 18 July 1934) was an Irish academic and the first woman lecturer in

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

's French Department as well as being a political activist who was involved in Ireland's

Easter Rising The Easter Rising (), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an ind ...

War of Independence Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...

, and

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

Early life and education

Mary Kate Ryan was born on 31 October 1878, in the townland of Tomcoole, near

Taghmon Taghmon (; ) is a village in County Wexford, Ireland. It lies on the R738 regional road, west of Wexford town and east-southeast of New Ross. The village is in a townland and civil parish of the same name. History It can be established, ...

County Wexford County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...

. Her parents were John Ryan, who was a farmer, and his wife Elizabeth Sutton. There were twelve children and Ryan was the second oldest. Ryan was often called 'Kit', or 'Cáit' by those who knew her well. Her eldest sibling was Joanna who went to join the Loreto nuns and was known as Mother Stanislaus. She was known for ensuring girls were given the opportunity to attend university and had a place to live. Ryan was a supporter, with her family, of both the

Gaelic League (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it eme ...

and

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

. One of Ryan's brothers, Fr Martin Ryan, was exposed to the ideas while studying in

Maynooth Maynooth (; ) is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Maynooth University (part of the National University of Ireland and also known as the National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and St Patrick's College, Maynoo ...

and brought them home. A close friend was

Seán T. O'Kelly Seán Thomas O'Kelly (; 25 June 1882 – 23 November 1966), originally John T. O'Kelly, was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as the second president of Ireland from June 1945 to June 1959. He also served as deputy prime minister of Ir ...

who was another influence on her nationalism. Ryan got her primary education locally and attended the Loreto Abbey in

Gorey Gorey () is a market town in north County Wexford, Ireland. It is bypassed by the main N11 road (Ireland), M11 Dublin to Wexford road. The town is also connected to the Gorey railway station, railway network along the same route. Local newspape ...

, County Wexford, before going to

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 ...

to study in the Loreto College,

St Stephen's Green St Stephen's Green () is a garden square and public park located in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard. It was officially re-opened to the public on Tuesday, 27 July 1880 by ...

. Ryan joined the Loreto Hall Literary and Debating Society and was a prominent member there. She got her degree in modern languages from the

Royal University of Ireland The Royal University of Ireland was a university in Ireland that existed from 1879 to 1909. It was founded in accordance with the University Education (Ireland) Act 1879 as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the ...

in 1902. Ryan then continued her studies in

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the un ...

where she qualified as a teacher. After completing her education Ryan taught languages in a number of schools in Great Britain. These included High School at

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, at a school in

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

, and in a school in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. While in London, Ryan was an acquaintance of

Thomas Kettle Thomas Michael Kettle (9 February 1880 – 9 September 1916) was an Irish economist, journalist, barrister, writer, war poet, soldier and Home Rule politician. As a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for ...

. She returned to Ireland in 1909. Ryan became a lecturer in languages at

Activism

While living in Dublin and working in UCD, Ryan's house became a centre for nationalists and Irish cultural supporters. She was an active member during the

in Dublin, serving in the

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Established in England in the 17th century, the GPO was a state monopoly covering the dispatch of items from a specific ...

during the week, and was jailed in

Mountjoy Prison Mountjoy Prison (), founded as Mountjoy Gaol and nicknamed The Joy, is a medium security men's prison located in Phibsborough in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current prison Governor is Ray Murtagh. History Mountjoy was designed by Cap ...

before being released on health grounds. UCD indicated they were concerned that she was using her lectures and time as a lecturer on campus to spread her beliefs among the students. Ryan married Seán T. O'Kelly on 1 April 1918 in

Rathmines Rathmines (; ) is an inner suburb on the Southside (Dublin), Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal of Ireland, Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to the south, Ranela ...

. She began working for

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...

during the

. She worked as a translator and interpreter for her husband on his diplomatic trip to the

1919 Paris Peace Conference Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Bratislava, Pressburg (later Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY Iolaire, HMY '' ...

. She travelled to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in 1921. Ryan was in Germany when the

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty (), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain an ...

was signed. The Ryan family did not agree with each other on the treaty and Mary Kate Ryan was strongly against it. She fell out with her sister Min Ryan as her husband,

Richard Mulcahy Richard James Mulcahy (10 May 1886 – 16 December 1971) was an Irish Fine Gael politician and army general who served as Minister for Education from 1948 to 1951 and 1954 to 1957, Minister for the Gaeltacht from June 1956 to October 1956, L ...

, was part of the Pro-Treaty government.

Later life

After the

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War (; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United Kingdom but within the British Emp ...

ended, Ryan was vice-president of the UCD Republican Club. Despite the earlier concerns of the administration Ryan had continued to work for the university. In fact, in addition to her other activities, from 1913 to 1918, Ryan had been acting Professor of her department after the death of a Professor Cadic. In the 1930s, she developed rheumatic heart disease. She retired from work and began using a wheelchair in 1934. Ryan looked for treatments for her illness and travelled to

Bad Nauheim Bad Nauheim () is a town in the Wetteraukreis district of Hesse state of Germany. As of 2020, Bad Nauheim has a population of 32,493. The town is approximately north of Frankfurt am Main, on the east edge of the Taunus mountain range. It is a w ...

, Germany. She was there with her husband and some friends when she died on 18 July 1934. In 1936, Seán O'Kelly married his late wife's younger sister,

Phyllis Ryan Philomena Frances Ryan (28 February 1895 – 19 November 1983) was an Irish chemist and nationalist and the second wife of President of Ireland, Seán T. O'Kelly. Early life and family Philomena Frances Ryan was born on 28 February 1895 to Joh ...

, after gaining a

papal dispensation In the jurisprudence of the canon law of the Catholic Church, a dispensation is the exemption from the immediate obligation of the law in certain cases.The Law of Christ Vol. I, pg. 284 Its object is to modify the hardship often caused by rigor ...

to do so.

References and sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Mary Kate 1878 births 1934 deaths People from Taghmon Alumni of the Royal University of Ireland Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge Academics of University College Dublin People educated at Loreto College, St Stephen's Green Cumann na mBan members Irish nationalists Spouses of presidents of Ireland Women in the Easter Rising Women in the Irish War of Independence Women in the Irish Civil War People of the Easter Rising People of the Irish Civil War People of the Irish War of Independence