Brigid Makowski (''née'' Sheils) was a former member of Shannon Town Commission and

Clare County Council Clare County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae an Chláir) is the authority responsible for local government in County Clare, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and ...

. She was elected initially representing the

Irish Republican Socialist Party The Irish Republican Socialist Party or IRSP ( ga, Páirtí Poblachtach Sóisialach na hÉireann) is a Marxist-Leninist and republican party in Ireland. It is often referred to as the "political wing" of the Irish National Liberation Army (I ...

(IRSP) of which she was a founding member. She was born 6 January 1937 in the

Bogside The Bogside is a neighbourhood outside the city walls of Derry, Northern Ireland. The large gable-wall murals by the Bogside Artists, Free Derry Corner and the Gasyard Féile (an annual music and arts festival held in a former gasyard) are pop ...

area of

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

, and was involved in the 1968 civil rights march in the city at the beginning of

the Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

. She married Leo Makowski a Polish-American whom she met when his U.S. Navy ship ''U.S.S Johnson'' docked in Derry in August 1954. They had two dates before Leo's ship left. They corresponded and he eventually proposed, she accepted, sailed to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and they married there 16 April 1955. She joined the Irish American grouping ''Clann na Gael'' in Philadelphia, and proposed that a

Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association ) was an organisation that campaigned for civil rights in Northern Ireland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Formed in Belfast on 9 April 1967,

banner be included in the 1969

Saint Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...

parade. Originally she was a member of

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 Gri ...

and sided with the

Official An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...

wing during the 1970 split. She disagreed however with the 1972 ceasefire and was a supporter of

Seamus Costello Seamus Costello ( ga, Séamus Mac Coisdealbha, 1939 – 5 October 1977) was an Irish politician. He was a leader of Official Sinn Féin and the Official Irish Republican Army and latterly of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) and the Iri ...

. She was called to testify at the

Official Irish Republican Army The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA (OIRA; ) was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a "socialist state, workers' republic" en ...

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

of Costello in Mornington. She remarked after Costello had been dismissed that "Jesus could have testified on Costello's behalf and it wouldn't have changed the verdict." After Costello's expulsion from Official Sinn Féin and the Official IRA, she helped set up the IRSP. She was elected in 1981 as a councillor to the Shannon Town Commission. She was re-elected as an Independent after leaving the IRSP.Local Elections
Shannon Town Council website She was later elected to Clare County Council in 1991. Makowski campaigned against the building of the visitor centre in Mullaghmore, in

the Burren The Burren (; ) is a karst/glaciokarst landscape centred in County Clare, on the west coast of Ireland.
Burren ...

. In 1992, she was present at the funeral of the

Irish People's Liberation Organisation The Irish People's Liberation Organisation was a small Irish socialist republican paramilitary organisation formed in 1986 by disaffected and expelled members of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), whose factions coalesced in the aftermat ...

and

Republican Socialist Collective The Republican Socialist Collective was a fringe Irish republican political group in Northern Ireland formed in 1986. The RSC formed the political arm of the Irish People's Liberation Organisation, a splinter group of the Irish National Liberati ...

leader Jimmy Brown. Her daughter, Stella Makowski, gave the traditional graveside speech.Jack Holland & Henry McDonald, ''INLA - Deadly Divisions'', Publisher: Torc (1994); / On 15 April 2017, Brigid died at Letterkenny Hospital, County Donegal, Ireland from complications following treatment for lung cancer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Makowski, Brigid 1937 births Independent politicians in Ireland Irish Republican Socialist Party politicians Local councillors in County Clare Politicians from Derry (city) 2017 deaths