seamus dubhghaill

Promoting Irish Culture and History from Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

Tag Archives: Suffolk Street (Dublin)


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Birth of Kathleen O’Connell, Activist & de Valera’s Personal Secretary

Kathleen O’Connell, an Irish republican activist and Éamon de Valera‘s personal secretary, is born Catherine O’Connell at Caherdaniel, County Kerry, on October 5, 1888.

O’Connell is one of eleven children of farmer John O’Connell and Mary Ann O’Connell (née O’Sullivan). She is educated in County Kerry, and emigrates to Chicago in 1904 where she trains to be a secretary. She leaves a well-paid commercial job in 1912 to become secretary to the American delegation of the Gaelic League in New York City. She works closely with Thomas Ashe and Diarmuid Lynch on fund-raising and handles their secret Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) correspondence. She returns to Ireland briefly in 1915 to attend the Gaelic League Oireachtas na Gaeilge and ardfheis, voting in favour of the politicisation of the organisation. During the same visit she brings money and messages to the Irish Volunteers from John Devoy. She attends the New York Irish Race Convention, going on to work for the Friends of Irish Freedom. In this position she organises and collects for the “victory fund” for Irish independence. She is also a typist for Clan na Gael. After the 1916 Easter Rising, she becomes a member of Cumann na mBan in the United States, raising money for the widows and children of those killed or wounded during the Rising. It is through this work that she becomes a close friend of Arthur Griffith and his family.

Éamon de Valera requests that O’Connell join his “consular staff” on October 2, 1919, to support his tour of the United States. She works closely with him during this tour, traveling with him, assisting with speeches and dealing with his private and public correspondence. She is privy to secrets of the independence movement due to handling Harry Boland‘s correspondence as well. In November 1920, she returns to Ireland with de Valera and goes into hiding immediately. From February 1921 she lives at his secret headquarters at Strand Road, living in dangerous conditions until a truce is called in the Irish War of Independence. After this she lives with de Valera at Dr. Farnan’s house at Merrion Square and later in Blackrock. On June 22, 1921, she is arrested with him, and they are both released the next day. She is a member of the delegation that meets David Lloyd George in July 1921, and shares de Valera’s opposition to the Anglo-Irish Treaty. She joins de Valera and her sister Teresa in Suffolk Street in June 1922 when the Irish Civil War breaks out.

When fighting ends in Dublin in July 1922, she travels south, working closely with Dorothy Macardle, Robert Brennan, and Erskine Childers establishing a publicity department and publishing Poblacht na hÉireann. In September 1922, she returns to Dublin, and goes into hiding at 11 Upper Mount Street. She is a loyal follower of de Valera throughout the civil war, and is present at his arrest in Ennis in August 1923. She acts as his messenger and agent during his imprisonment, working with him on an Irish translation of shorthand which they later abandon. During this time she also works for the Sinn Féin TD for Mayo North P. J. Ruttledge.

O’Connell is present at the first meeting of the provisional organising committee of de Valera’s new political party, Fianna Fáil. During this time she continues to travel with de Valera, nationally and internationally. There are rumours regarding the nature of their relationship, leading to de Valera vehemently denying any impropriety in Dáil Éireann in 1928. The letter between O’Connell and de Valera’s wife, Sinéad, are cited as evidence there is no intimate relationship between O’Connell and de Valera. She resigns from her permanent civil service position of personal secretary to the Taoiseach when de Valera is defeated in 1948, returning in 1951 when he regains power. For her involvement in the Irish War of Independence, she is awarded an Irish military pension.

O’Connell is forced to retire in 1954 as she has developed cancer. Her niece, Maire O’Kelly, takes up her position. She dies on April 7, 1956, and is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery. Her funeral is attended by a guard of honour from the national executive of Fianna Fáil and the Old IRA. She receives full military honours and Seán MacEntee delivers the panegyric. During the writing of their biography of de Valera, Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford, and Thomas P. O’Neill use her papers, which are held in the University College Dublin archives, extensively.

In 2016, a plaque is unveiled to O’Connell at her birthplace in Caherdaniel by Eamon Ó Cuív, de Valera’s grandson.


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The Legend of Molly Malone’s Baptism

Molly Malone’s baptism is often cited as having taken place on July 27, 1669, although it is part of a later legend rather than a confirmed historical fact. The story goes that a woman named Molly Malone, a fishmonger in Dublin, is baptized at St. Werburgh’s Church and later dies young of a fever. This narrative becomes part of the folklore surrounding the song Cockles and Mussels, which celebrates her as a street fishwife.

The legend goes that the baptism date and the claim that Molly Malone is a real 17th‑century figure were popularized in the late 20th century, especially during the Dublin Millennium celebrations in 1988. At that time, the Dublin Millennium Commission endorsed a claim that a Mary Malone had been baptized on July 27, 1669, and buried on June 13, 1699, in St. John’s Graveyard. This led to June 13 being declared Molly Malone Day.

However, no verifiable evidence links these baptism and burial records to the Molly Malone of the song. The name “Molly” is a common diminutive for Mary or Margaret, and many such women lived in Dublin over the centuries. The baptism record in question (Mary Malone, baptized July 27, 1669) and the burial record (Mary Malone, died June 13, 1699) are published in church registers, but there is no proof these refer to the same person as the ballad’s heroine.

The ballad “Cockles and Mussels” (also called “In Dublin’s Fair City”) is written in the late 19th century by James Yorkston of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a fictional tale of a fishwife who sells cockles and mussels and dies young. While the song may have been inspired by older street ballads, it is not based on a confirmed historical Molly Malone.

Despite the lack of solid historical proof, the legend has become a symbol of Dublin. A bronze statue of Molly Malone, “The Tart with the Cart,” (pictured above) stands on Suffolk Street, commemorating her as a cultural icon. The story continues to be celebrated in song, pub culture, and local tradition.

In short, July 27, 1669, is part of the folklore of Molly Malone’s baptism, but it is not confirmed by reliable historical records. The figure remains a fictionalized symbol of Dublin’s street life, immortalized in song and statue.