Gonne, Maud, 1866-1953

Edith Maud Gonne was born on December 21, 1866 in Tongham, England, the eldest daughter of Captain Thomas Gonne and Edith Frith Gonne, née Cook. In 1882, she accompanied her father to Dublin where he died in 1886. Maud Gonne then briefly attempted to become an actress, before contracting tuberculosis and seeking treatment in France. There, she began a relationship with Lucien Millevoye, eventually having two children with him. During the 1890s, Gonne traveled extensively throughout England, Wales, Scotland, and the United States campaigning for the Irish nationalist cause, forming an organization called the Irish League in 1896. Gonne supported Irish Catholic tenant farmers in their struggles against the Protestant Ascendancy and the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) during the Land War, and chaired several meetings of international groups to build sympathy for her causes among the American, British, and French. During the Second Boer War, Gonne, along with a small group of other Irish republicans, supported the Boer cause by giving speeches and publishing newspaper articles advocating against Irish involvement in the war.

In 1900, Gonne founded the Daughters of Erin, an organization which promoted women's involvement in nationalist causes. The organization established classes in Irish history and language, among other activities. In 1903, Gonne and Irish nationalist Arthur Griffith founded the National Council which became the precursor for the Sinn Féin party. That same year, Maud married Major John MacBride, who had led the Irish Transvaal Brigade against the British in the Second Boer War. The following year, their son Seán MacBride was born. In 1905, Gonne and John MacBride agreed to end their marriage and Gonne relocated to France. MacBride was killed during the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin. In 1918, Gonne returned to Ireland and was active in the anti-conscription campaign, resulting in her arrest in May 1918. In 1921, she opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty and advocated for the Republican side.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Gonne continued to work for the republican cause, especially in support of republican prisoners. During World War II, she opposed Taoiseach Éamon de Valera's crackdown on the IRA and lobbied for IRA prisoners interned by the government. After the war, she supported her son Seán MacBride's new political party, Clann na Poblachta (Followers of the Republic), which took part in the coalition government that won power in 1948. Maud Gonne died on April 27, 1953, aged 86.