Sinéad Derrig ( ga, Sinéad Ní Dheirg; 2 March 1899 – 3 April 1991) was an Irish civil servant and

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 Ge ...

' personal secretary, acting as “almost his left hand”.

Biography

Born Sinéad Mason in Craigaroddan, Ards,

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 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

on 2 March 1899. She was the eldest of eight children of Thomas and Catherine Mason (née Merron). She attended Ballyphilip national school, Ards, moving to Dublin to live with her aunt Jane Mason and attend Holy Faith convent, Haddington Road, Dublin, and later St Michael's Loreto convent, Navan,

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

. She worked briefly in a firm on Baggot Street as a secretary, going on to work briefly as

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of governm ...

's secretary before his tour of the United States in 1919. Derrig was Michael Collins personal secretary from 1919 to 1922, working long hours over the course of the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

. During this time, she was privy to confidential information and the dangers that Collins was exposed to. At Collins' arrangement, Derrig lived with her aunt at 23 Brendan Road, Donnybrook. Derrig was close to Collins, leading to many of his relatives and friends believing that he might marry her. After the death of Collins in 1922, she took up a post in the Department of Local Government. She resigned her post in 1928 when she married

Thomas Derrig Thomas Derrig ( ga, Tomás Ó Deirg; 26 November 1897 – 19 November 1956) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Lands from 1939 to 1943 and 1951 to 1954, Minister for Education from 1932 to 1939 and 1940 to 1948 an ...

. The Derrig's lived with their two daughters, Úna and Íosold, at 58 Dartmouth Square and 33 Pembroke Road, Dublin. Derrig refused to give interviews regarding her work with Collins later in life. She died at her home 6 St Helen's Road, Booterstown on 3 April 1991. Shortly before her death, she gifted a copy of a journal by Collins from his time spent in Sligo jail in 1918 to the

National Library of Ireland The National Library of Ireland (NLI; ga, Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is the Republic of Ireland's national library located in Dublin, in a building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. The mission of the National Library of Ireland is ...

References

External links

Derrig's papers in the National Library of Ireland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Derrig, Sinéad 1899 births 1991 deaths People from County Down Irish nationalists People of the Irish Civil War (Anti-Treaty side) People of the Irish War of Independence Burials at Glasnevin Cemetery