Kathleen Lynn
Born in County Mayo on 28th January 1874, Kathleen Lynn was the daughter of Robert Lynn, a Church of Ireland clergyman, and his wife Catherine Wyn.
Kathleen studied medicine at the Catholic University Medical School where she graduated in 1899. Following her graduation she worked in a variety of hospitals across Dublin, and ran a private practice from her home at 9 Belgrave Road, Rathmines.
In 1913, at the request of Countess Markievicz, Lynn treated prominent Irish republican Helena Molony. Molony stayed with Lynn while she recuperated and during this time Molony convinced Lynn to join the ‘National Movement.’ This led to Lynn becoming active in the suffragist, labour and nationalist movements. Alongside Molony and Markievicz, she supported the workers during the Dublin Lockout of 1913.
Birth of the Irish Republic by Walter Paget (1863 - 1935)
Lynn proceeded to become Chief Medical Officer for the Irish Citizen Army where she taught first aid to the group and the Cumann na mBan. She also used her car to courier arms into Dublin in the weeks prior to the Easter Rising, even storing some weapons in her own home.
During the rising she was positioned at City Hall where she treated the injured. The post she held was recaptured by British Forces on the evening of Easter Monday and Lynn was consequently arrested and imprisoned.
Following the rising Lynn was held in custody in Dublin up until late June before she was deported across the Irish Sea to England. But unlike other prisoners, Lynn wasn’t imprisoned. Instead, she was sent to work with a doctor near Bath. By the end of the year she was back in Rathmines where she re-established her practice.
Lynn remained active in the nationalist movement to such an extent that she was elected vice-president of the Sinn Féin executive in 1917, and a TD for Dublin in 1923, although she did not take her seat.
While vice-president of the Sinn Féin executive, her residence became a common meeting point for fellow Sinn Féin women, most notably for meetings of Cumann na d’Teachtaire (League of Women Delegates).
Lynn died on September 14th, 1955 in Dublin and was given a full military funeral. She is remembered for her socio-political activism in an era where some women were first given a political voice.