The Gifford sisters were, save for one (Ada), prominent

republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

s during the

Irish revolutionary period The revolutionary period in Irish history was the period in the 1910s and early 1920s when Irish nationalist opinion shifted from the Home Rule-supporting Irish Parliamentary Party to the republican Sinn Féin movement. There were several wa ...

who were daughters of Frederick and Isabella Gifford, middle-class Dublin unionists. Two were married to signatories of the

1916 Proclamation Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Empire, British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored ...

Family background

Frederick Gifford (1835/36–1917), a Catholic solicitor, married Isabella Julia Burton (1847/48–1932), daughter of a

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

in the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

, on 27 April 1872, in St. George's Church of Ireland church in Dublin. Isabella's father, Robert Nathaniel Burton, died in her infancy, after which she and her siblings were raised by their uncle, the painter

Frederic William Burton Sir Frederic William Burton (8 April 1816 in Wicklow – 16 March 1900 in London) was an Irish painter who was born in County Wicklow and taken by his parents to live in County Clare on the west coast of Ireland at the age of six. He was t ...

. From the 1880s, the Giffords lived on Palmerston Road in

Rathmines Rathmines () is an affluent inner suburb on the Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It lies three kilometres south of the city centre. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to t ...

. After a first child who died in infancy, there were six daughters and six sons. The sons (Claude Frederick, Liebert, Gerald Vere, Gabriel Paul, Frederick Ernest, and Edward Cecil), though nominally baptised as Catholics (their father's religion), remained unionist and pursued unspectacular careers outside Ireland. The girls were educated at

Alexandra College Alexandra College ( ir, Coláiste Alexandra) is a fee-charging boarding and day school for girls located in Milltown, Dublin, Ireland. The school operates under a Church of Ireland ethos. History The school was founded in 1866 and takes its ...

. The children were raised as Protestants, though in adulthood four sisters converted to Catholicism (Katie, Muriel, Grace, and Sidney, all having married Catholics). All the sisters, except for one (Ada), were prominent republicans.

Sisters

References

* * * {{reflist

External links

* Gifford household (97 Palmerston Road, Rathmines
1901 census
an
1911 census
records from

National Archives of Ireland The National Archives of Ireland ( ga, Cartlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is the official repository for the state records of Ireland. Established by the National Archives Act 1986, taking over the functions of the State Paper Office (founded 17 ...

Bureau of Military History The Bureau of Military History in Ireland was established in January 1947 by Oscar Traynor TD, Minister for Defence and former Captain in the Irish Volunteers. The rationale for the establishment of the Bureau was to give individuals who played ...

witness statements: *
WS 256
Nellie Donnelly *
WS 257
Grace Plunkett *
WS 909
Sidney Czira Political families of Ireland People educated at Alexandra College People from Dublin (city) 19th-century Irish people 19th-century Irish women 20th-century Irish people 20th-century Irish women