Product Code Database
Ellen Ryan (5 July 1881 – 8 December 1959) was an Irish nationalist, Cumann na mBan organiser and County Councillor. She was a member of the republican Ryan family of Tomcoole. Despite not being involved in the Easter Rising, she was arrested and imprisoned. On release she joined Sinn Féin and was a regional organiser for Cumann na mBan in Wexford.Gillis, Liz (2016). Women of the Irish Revolution. Mercier Press. p.51. She was arrested for anti-Treaty activity during the Civil War and went on hunger strike with other female prisoners.McAuliffe, Mary (2020). Margaret Skinnider. UCD Press. p70 She was the first woman elected to Wexford County Council.National Women’s Council of Ireland (2019). Celebrating the role of women over 120 years of Local Government. NWCI.ie.[1]
Ryan and her family "played an important role in revolutionary politics and helped shape the new Free State."Hayes, Jim (2016). Wexford Family at the Heart of 1916 Rising, Gorey Guardian 22 March 2016. [3] Her sister Josephine Ryan was a founding member and secretary of Cumann na mBan and her sisters Phyllis Ryan, Mary Kate and Agnes McCullough were also members. Their brother James joined the Irish Volunteers. He later became a politician, serving as a Minister in successive Fianna Fáil governments, and was later elected to Seanad Éireann. He married Máirín Cregan, a member of Cumann na mBan. Josephine married Richard Mulcahy, commander in chief of the Irish Republican Army and later a Minister in the Fine Gael government. Agnes married Denis McCullough, president of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Kit married Seán T. O'Kelly, future President of Ireland, who went on to marry Phyllis after Mary Kate's death at 55. Ryan was a "friend and confidant of practically every leader in the Republican movement."Sean T O’Ceallaigh and the Ryans of Tomcoole. Political and private papers. Collection List no. 178. National Library of Ireland. p4. [4]
Ryan was one of the few women who were subsequently deported to Lewes Prison, England, along with Winifred Carney, Helena Molony, Marie Perotz-Flanagan, Brid Foley and Countess Markievicz. She was one of the longest serving prisoners and was eventually released on 13 October 1916. A later profile of her suggests that "her character with Dublin Castle even then, must not have been good".Irish Press. Monday 22 March 1937. p5. On her return to Ireland, Ryan resumed her activities with Cumann na mBan, where she reorganised and expanded branches in Wexford. She also joined Sinn Féin. Ryan is commemorated in the 77 Women commemoration quilt created by The Yarn Project in honour of the women arrested and held in Richmond Barracks after the Rising.Richmond Barracks. Women of 1916 Commemoration Quilt. RichmondBarracks.ie [6]
Ryan was a dispatch rider during the war and was among those arrested for anti-Treaty activities. She was transferred from Wexford to Kilmainham Gaol. Although her sister Min was married to Richard Mulcahy, Chief of Staff of the National Army, she did not receive preferential treatment. With other members of Cumann na mBan, she began a hunger strike in March 1923. The Free State authorities did not want any women to die on hunger strike, so she was released on 24 April, the 34th day of her strike.
"Nell Ryan and Miss
The Civil War had a huge impact on the Ryan family as Min backed her husband's support of the Treaty, as did her sister Agnes, but Nell and the other siblings were anti-Treaty. Unlike some families divided by the Civil War, the Ryans later managed to heal the division.Gillis, Liz (2016). Women of the Irish Revolution. Mercier Press. p.156. Her friendship with Kathleen Browne, who had been arrested with Ryan after the Rising and who later supported the Treaty, did not survive the Civil War.
She also served on the council of Uí Cinsealaigh Historical Society.
She died aged 78 in a nursing home in Wexford on 8 December 1959. At her funeral, members of Cumann na mBan formed a guard of honour and her coffin was draped in the tricolour of the Irish Republic. She is buried in Glynn Cemetery.
|
|
