LITMIR.BIZ

      First published in 2017 by

      Merrion Press

      10 George’s Street

      Newbridge

      Co. Kildare

      Ireland

       www.merrionpress.ie

      © 2017, Teresa & Mary Louise O’Donnell

      978-1-78537-107-3 (Paper)

      978-1-78537-108-0 (Kindle)

      978-1-78537-109-7 (Epub)

      978-1-78537-123-3 (PDF)

      British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

      An entry can be found on request

      Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

      An entry can be found on request

      All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved alone, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

      Interior design by www.jminfotechindia.com

      Typeset in Bembo 11/14.5 pt

      Cover design by www.phoenix-graphicdesign.com

      Cover front: The Pearse children. Left to right: Willie, Patrick,

      Margaret and Mary Brigid.

      Cover back: Margaret (left) and Mary Brigid Pearse.

      (All cover images courtesy of Pearse Museum at St Enda’s/OPW)

      Printed in Ireland by SPRINT-print Ltd

      CONTENTS

       Acknowledgements

       Introduction

       Chapter 1The Childhood of Margaret and Mary Brigid Pearse

       Chapter 2From Girlhood to Womanhood

       Chapter 3A Pearse Family Project

       Chapter 4Surviving the Rising

       Chapter 5Mary Brigid Pearse: Literature, Loss and Litigation

       Chapter 6Margaret Pearse: The Politics of Being a Pearse

       Conclusion

       Appendix 1: ‘The Old Grey Mare’

       Appendix 2: Catalogue of Literary Works by Mary Brigid Pearse

       Appendix 3: Scene 1, Over the Stile by Mary Brigid Pearse

       Appendix 4: Extract from Chapter 1 of Curly and the Persian by Mary Brigid Pearse

       Endnotes

       Select Bibliography

       Index

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      We are indebted to Brian Crowley, curator of the Pearse Museum, St Enda’s, Rathfarnham, who has been very generous with his knowledge and time and provided access to important collections associated with the Pearse family at Kilmainham Gaol (OPW). We would also like to thank him for granting permission to publish material and reproduce images.

      Further, we would like to acknowledge the assistance of Sr Alice Aylward of the Holy Faith Sisters Congregational Archives, Glasnevin, Dublin; Brian Kirby, provincial archivist with the Irish Capuchin Provincial Archives; Fr Brian Mulcahy, archivist of the Passionist Community, Mount Argus, Dublin; Sr Marian Bradley, Sr Brenda Thompson and Sr Rose Miriam Gansle of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament, Texas, USA; Fr Joseph Mallin, Wah Yan Jesuit College, Hong Kong and the McGloughlin and Scarlett families.

      Librarians and archivists at the following institutions provided invaluable information for our research: the Central Catholic Library, the National Archives of Ireland, the National Library of Ireland, Pearse Street Library, University College Dublin (Special Collections) and Trinity College, Dublin Library. The witness statements of the Bureau of Military History, an online initiative of the Military Archives and National Archives, also provided important information for our research.

      We wish to thank Conor Graham, Fiona Dunne and their colleagues at Merrion Press/Irish Academic Press for all their assistance in the preparation of this book. To our supporting and loving families, Barry, Jon, Kevin, Claire, Maria, Cecilia, Kevin and Isabella, we thank you for your patience and encouragement. Finally, we are indebted to our parents, Terrie and Michael, for their unconditional support and for fostering in us a love of Irish history and culture. This book is dedicated to both of you.

      Teresa and Mary Louise O’Donnell

      January 2017

Introduction

      This book focuses on the lives of Margaret and Mary Brigid Pearse, sisters of Patrick and Willie who were executed for their roles in the Easter Rising of 1916. The Pearse sisters have long been overshadowed by their famous brothers but they too travelled interesting paths in life. Margaret was a teacher, Irish language activist and politician who shared Patrick’s educational vision for a bilingual education system and his political vision of an independent Irish nation. Mary Brigid was a musician, teacher, actress and author of short stories, children’s stories, and dramas, but did not agree with her family’s political activism. Margaret and Mary Brigid never enjoyed a close relationship like Patrick and Willie; however, they both shared a deep affection for their brothers.

      The Pearse sisters have been accorded little attention in the biographies of Patrick. Possible explanations for their neglect may be the lack of source material and the perception that they played only a peripheral role in the history of the Pearse family. Yet Margaret and Mary Brigid, along with Willie, played an integral part in the creation of the complex, multifaceted man that was Patrick Pearse. Indeed, Margaret and her mother were largely responsible for contributing to, and perpetuating, the myth or cult of Patrick Pearse after his execution.

      Until Róisín Ní Ghairbhí’s recent publication on Willie, little was known about his

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