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Anthologies of our Fenian Ancestors
Clarke, Kathleen (1878-1972)
Kathleen Clarke,
who was born into a Fenian family in Limerick,
was a staunch Irish Republican and an active
participant in the 1916 Easter Rising. She
was also a founding member of Cumann na mBan.
Shortly after
her husband Tom and brother Ned Daly and the
other fourteen leaders of the Rising were
executed she set to work organizing the
Prisoners' Dependants' Fund to support the
relatives of the dead and imprisoned. She
also became active in Sinn Fein and in 1917 was
elected to the Sinn Fein executive and later
that year to the executive of Cumann
na mBan.
Early in 1918
she was arrested in a roundup of Sinn Fein
activists and
imprisoned in Holloway Prison in London.
After her
release in February of 1919 she became an active
participant in the War of Independence. For the
duration of the war her home was continuously
raided by the Black and Tans and other security
organs of the British administration in Ireland.
In late 1919 she
was elected to
the Dublin Corporation and in 1920 was appointed a judge in the Sinn Féin
courts.
As a member of the Second Dáil
she voted against the Treaty. She actively
supported anti-Treaty forces during the ensuing
Civil War.
As a senator from 1928 to 1936, she was
committed to equality for women. She became the first woman Lord
Mayor of Dublin in 1939. In the 1940s she served on
numerous hospital boards and the National Graves
Association.
She died in Liverpool on the 29 September 1972
aged ninety-four.
link to biography
Connolly, James (1868
-
1916)
 James
Connolly
was
born
in Edinburgh
in 1868 to
Irish
parents.
At
age
11
he
left
school
and
by
age
14
had
joined
the
British
army.
Self-educated,
he
became
a
socialist
organizer
in
Belfast
and
Dublin,
founding
the
Irish
Socialist
Republican
Party
1896
and
‘the
Workers’
Republic'
1898.
He
lived
in
the
United
States
from
1903
to
1910.
After
returning
to
Ireland he
helped
organize
the
Irish
Transport
and
General
Workers'
Union
with
James
Larkin
and
led
the
strike
following
the
lock-out
of 1913.
Connolly
was
one
of
the
seven
signatories
of
the
1916
Proclamation
and
was
in
command
of
the
Republican
HQ
at
the
GPO
during
the
Easter
Rising
of
1916.
Badly
wounded
in
the
fighting,
he
was
executed,
by
the
British
usurper,
strapped
in
a
chair. --- link to
biography
Connolly O'Brien, Nora (1893 - 1981)
Nora Connolly O'Brien was born in Edinburgh, Scotland to
James and Lillie Connolly. Nora was an Irish patriot, a trade unionist,
a writer and a fearless revolutionary who played a key role in, and
in events leading up to, the 1916 Easter Rising.
During
her childhood years
in the United States she attending trade union meetings with her father and also
attended meetings with Clan na Gael leaders including John Devoy.
She experienced, first hand, the exploitation of child labor
as a child worker in a sweatshop that produced hats and other finery for
the wealthy elite.
On her return to Ireland in 1911 she became a member of
various organization including Cumann na mBan, the Gaelic league and Na
Fianna Eireann.
She was involved in
the Howth gunrunning operation and was a recruiter for the Irish
Volunteers leading up to the Easter Rising. During the Rising she was a
courier carrying dispatches between the various garrisons and the
Belfast volunteers.
After the Rising she did a lecture tour of the United States with other
women involved in the Rising. She remained a lifelong Republican and
faithful to the cause for which her father gave his life. ---
link to biography
Cryan, John F. (1929
- 2005)
 John Cryan was an American
patriot and a true son of Ireland who never
forgot his roots nor the British legacy of poverty and
depravation he witnessed during his youth in Ireland. He
served his adopted homeland during the Korean conflict with
courage and fidelity. As a successful businessman here in
the United States he worked tirelessly to help the dependants of Irish
political prisoners during the outbreak of hostilities in
the seventies and served as a reliable and effective contact
to the political establishment in Washington DC.
In 1974 the US. Government,
bowing to British pressure, introduced a policy of denying
entry visas to proponents of Eire Nua
including O'Brádaigh and Ó Conaill.
As a result of pressure exerted
by John and other activists Peter Rodino,
Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, ordered an official U.S.
Congressional delegation be sent to Ireland and England to
determine if the policy was justified or a ploy to support
the British presence in Ireland. The bipartisan delegation
led by two members of the Judiciary, Rep. Joshua Eilberg (D.
PA) and Hamilton Fish (R.NY) visited Ireland and England in
September 1978 and concluded in an official report ‘that all
those who applied for visas should be allowed into the
United States and none excluded’ ---
link to
biography
Cronin, Sean (1920 - 2011)
 Seán Cronin, who
was born in Ireland in 1920, was an officer in the Irish Free State
Army, Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army, Washington
Correspondent of the “Irish Times and the author of many books and
pamphlets including The McGarrity
Papers; The Search for the Republic; Irish Nationalism; Young Connolly;
Our Own Red Blood; Washington’s Irish Policy 1916-1986; Kevin Barry
and many others.
After leaving the Free State Army in 1948 Sean emigrated to the United
States where he became associated with the Clan na Gael and the IRA
Veterans of America. During that time he wrote articles for the Irish
Republican organ in Ireland and developed a keen interest in Irish
history.
Following the Armagh
and Omagh arms raids by the IRA in 1954 he returned to Ireland to take
part in the developing struggle.
He joined the IRA, rose through the its ranks becoming Chief of Staff in
1957. During his service in the IRA he drafted the strategic document
“Operation Harvest” the codename for the Border Campaign that lasted
from 1956 to 1962.
A few years after
the Border Campaign was called off Sean returned to the United States.
For the remainder of his working life he served as the Washington
Correspondent for the “Irish Times. He died in Maryland in 2011 ---
link to biography
Curran, John
F. (1930 - 2003)
 John Curran, who was born in
New York in 1930 was a
first generation Irish American, whose interest in a united Ireland was
a natural progression as both his father and uncles served the Irish
Republican movement from 1913 to 1923. He was an outspoken advocate for
Irish Freedom and a leader in preserving and promoting our Irish
Cultural heritage here in America.
During his public career John served as the mayor of River Edge, as a
Bergen County freeholder and as a Lodi administrator. He was widely
respected as a government expert and reformer.
John
was honored by many groups for services rendered to the people of Bergen
County. He was also honored by numerous Irish-American organization
including An Cumann Cabhrach, the Bergen County Irish Association, the
New Jersey Gaelic League, the
Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Irish American Social Club, the Bergen
County Council of Irish Associations, Clan na Gael and the Irish
American Fenian Society for his efforts on behalf of Irish Freedom.
In
1984, Mr. Curran traveled to Belfast with Rep. Robert Torricelli
(D-NJ.) on a congressional tact-finding trip. He returned more strongly
convinced than ever that the Irish-American community must increase its
efforts to achieve that which was denied our parents and grandparents,
an Ireland United, Gaelic and Free.
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