Alice Mary Cashel (17 July 1878 – 22 February 1958) was an Irish nationalist, County Councillor and judge. She was a founding member, with Annie McSwiney, of the Cork

Cumann na mBan Cumann na mBan (; literally "The Women's Council" but calling themselves The Irishwomen's Council in English), abbreviated C na mB, is an Irish republican women's paramilitary organisation formed in Dublin on 2 April 1914, merging with and d ...

Early life

Born 17 July 1878 in Birr, County Offaly (then Parsonstown, King's County), Cashel's parents were the station master Blennerhassett Cashel of

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after t ...

and Maria Agnes Lyons of

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...

. She became a teacher and studied for a degree from the

Royal University of Ireland The Royal University of Ireland was founded in accordance with the ''University Education (Ireland) Act 1879'' as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the University of London. A Royal Charter was issued on 27 Apri ...

. In 1895 her sister Agnes Cashel married the Sinn Féin politician

James O'Mara page=2, alt=British Army intelligence file for James O'Mara, British Army intelligence file for James O'Mara, class=notpageimage James O'Mara (6 August 1873 – 21 November 1948) was an Irish businessman and politician who became a nationalist ...

Republican activism

Cashel joined the

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

party in 1907. She was a member with many of the significant names in Cork. With Annie McSwiney she formed the Cork branch of Cumann na mBan about 1914 and she was secretary to the founding of the Cork branch of the

Irish Volunteers The Irish Volunteers ( ga, Óglaigh na hÉireann), sometimes called the Irish Volunteer Force or Irish Volunteer Army, was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists and republicans. It was ostensibly formed in respon ...

. She was at the time living in

Ballingeary Ballingeary (, ) is a village in the Shehy Mountains in County Cork, Ireland. The village is located within the Muskerry ''Gaeltacht'' (Irish-speaking area). According to the 2016 census, over 42% of the population speak Irish on a daily basi ...

but she gave her cottage to Sean Hegarty when he was ordered out of Cork by the British. He and his wife lived there for many years. By 1916 Cashel was living in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

and learned of the Easter Rising from Hegarty when she visited him for the Easter holiday. She contacted Thomas McCurtain who sent her to the Headquarters where she was given orders from Tadgh Barry. She was told to use a Protestant name to gain cars from a local garage. The cars were to go to Kerry to collect the arms coming in on the

Aud The Australian dollar (sign: $; code: AUD) is the currency of Australia, including its external territories: Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island. It is officially used as currency by three independent Pacific Island s ...

. Once word reached them that

Roger Casement Roger David Casement ( ga, Ruairí Dáithí Mac Easmainn; 1 September 1864 – 3 August 1916), known as Sir Roger Casement, CMG, between 1911 and 1916, was a diplomat and Irish nationalist executed by the United Kingdom for treason during Worl ...

was arrested and the guns gone there was no need to source the cars. Cashel waited on further orders while the Rising happened in Dublin. The confusion caused by the recall of the orders meant that there was little or no activity in Cork. Cashel was updated by McSwiney towards the end of the week. She collected a write up from Hegarty and although she had to memorise it and destroy the original to get it to the US she successfully wrote it out again and gave it to

John Devoy John Devoy ( ga, Seán Ó Dubhuí, ; 3 September 1842 – 29 September 1928) was an Irish republican rebel and journalist who owned and edited '' The Gaelic American'', a New York weekly newspaper, from 1903 to 1928. Devoy dedicated over ...

when she reached

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. The US trip had been planned before the Rising. Cashel had planned to visit Canada and to get there via NY. She did not return to Ireland until January 1917 and she took up a teaching post in the McSwiney School for girls, St. Ita's in Cork. By 1918 Cashel had moved to

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

where she was living with her brother in law who asked her to assist his son in the Armagh elections. She was an organiser for cumann na mBan there, setting up the

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Armagh, Armagh and County Down, Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry ...

branch. She was called to join

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of govern ...

and

Seán MacEntee Seán Francis MacEntee ( ga, Seán Mac an tSaoi; 23 August 1889 – 9 January 1984) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Tánaiste from 1959 to 1965, Minister for Social Welfare from 1957 to 1961, Minister for Health from 1957 to ...

in Derry. Cashel was to follow them on a tour of the country to set up branches. All the Donegal branches were set up by Cashel. She also worked a Tyrone election and worked the

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Ireland. It also provides the name of its civil parish and barony. The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7,678. The town is on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry and Lette ...

and Cavan election with MacEntee and

Count Plunkett George Noble Plunkett (3 December 1851 – 12 March 1948) was an Irish nationalist politician, museum director and biographer, who served as Minister for Fine Arts from 1921 to 1922, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1919 to 1921 and Ceann Comha ...

. One of her meetings was raided by the police who destroyed the stage she stood on and since the

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ga, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the country was part of the United Kingdom. A separate ...

had promised to arrest her, Cashel ended on the run from them for several months. Cashel's brother in law James O'Mara became a member of the first Dáil Éireann in Jan 1919. Later in the year he was once more sent to the US to work with DeValera and she was to run his new oyster business and to lay low for a while. Her identity was well known to the police locally who were concerned she would land guns from America. The house was raided during this time. However Cashel was mostly working on a thesis about holy wells and several confiscated documents were purely about this. She was arrested and help in jail for a week or so during the time in Galway.

County Councillor and Council Vice-Chairman

As a result of her incarceration Cashel was co-opted as a Sinn Féin member of Galway County Council in June 1920. On 7 June 1920 she was co-opted onto

Clifden Clifden (, meaning "stepping stones") is a coastal town in County Galway, Ireland, in the region of Connemara, located on the Owenglin River where it flows into Clifden Bay. As the largest town in the region, it is often referred to as "the Capi ...

District Council. She was immediately elected as vice-chairman of Galway County Council on 19 June 1920, a position she retained until 1921. By March 1921 she was acting Chairman of the Council due to the arrest of the Chairman George Nicholl. She also reformed a branch of the Volunteers and gave them their orders. One of their duties was to get the poteen trade under control in the area. Eventually her home was raided by the

Black and Tans Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...

. Cashel escaped and made her way to Dublin. Once there the family business had reason to send her to France where she was able to confer with

Seán T. O'Kelly Seán Thomas O'Kelly ( ga, Seán Tomás Ó Ceallaigh; 25 August 1882 – 23 November 1966), originally John T. O'Kelly, was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as the second president of Ireland from June 1945 to June 1959. He also serve ...

in Paris. Cashel returned to Galway where she over turned an agreement known as the Galway resolution which had repudiated the authority of the Dail. Cashel was arrested in January when she tried to attend a council meeting. Dr Ada English was also arrested on the same day, 19 January 1921. They were imprisoned with Anita MacMahon, of

Achill Achill Island (; ga, Acaill, Oileán Acla) in County Mayo is the largest of the Irish isles, and is situated off the west coast of Ireland. It has a population of 2,594. Its area is . Achill is attached to the mainland by Michael Davitt Brid ...

. Cashel was detained until 25 July 1921. Once released Cashel moved to Dublin where she worked for Erskine Childer's office. At that time she used the name Armstrong since her own name was too well known. She predominately worked in propaganda offices until the treaty was signed. She returned to Galway and promptly objected to the council's support for the

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pe ...

Judge of Dáil Courts

Cashel was also elected in a Convention in Galway as a judge in the Dáil Courts (polling the second highest number of votes at the convention) and served as a "Parish Justice" in Connemara.

Later life

In 1935 Cashel published a YA novel which was widely used in Irish schools. The story is set just before and during the 1916 Easter Rising through a family in the west of Ireland. Cashel lived in St. Catherine's,

Roundstone, County Galway Roundstone () is a village on the west coast of Ireland, in the Connemara region of County Galway. Lying opposite the island of Inishnee on Roundstone Bay, by road it is northwest of Galway and southeast of Clifden. Known as a haven for peopl ...

. She died on 22 February 1958 at the Regional Hospital, Galway and was buried with honours on 25 February 1958 in New Cemetery, Bohermore, Galway.

References

Bibliography

*The Lights of Leaca Bán. Dublin, Browne and Nolan, 1935. National Library of Ireland.