Kathleen Napoli McKenna (9 September 1897 – 22 March 1988) was an Irish nationalist activist and journalist closely associated with
Arthur Griffith
Arthur Joseph Griffith ( ga, Art Seosamh Ó Gríobhtha; 31 March 1871 – 12 August 1922) was an Irish writer, newspaper editor and politician who founded the political party Sinn Féin. He led the Irish delegation at the negotiations that prod ...
.
Early life and family
Kathleen Napoli McKenna was born Kathleen Maria Kenna on 9 September 1897 in
Oldcastle, County Meath
Oldcastle () is a town in County Meath, Ireland. It is located in the north-west of the county near the border with Cavan, approximately 13 miles (21 km) from Kells. The R154 and R195 regional roads cross in the town's market square.
As ...
. Her parents were William (1862–1939), a draper and hardware merchant, and Mary Kenna (née Hanley). She was the eldest child of seven, with 3 sisters and 3 brothers. She and her siblings added "Mc" to their names as teenagers. Her maternal grandfather was a strong influence on McKenna, he was a
Fenian
The word ''Fenian'' () served as an umbrella term for the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and their affiliate in the United States, the Fenian Brotherhood, secret political organisations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries dedicated ...
, miller and land agitator.
Agnes O'Farrelly
Agnes O'Farrelly (born Agnes Winifred Farrelly; 24 June 1874 – 5 November 1951) ( ga, Úna Ní Fhaircheallaigh; nom-de-plume 'Uan Uladh'), was an academic and Professor of Irish at University College Dublin (UCD).Ríona Nic Congáil, ''Úna Ní ...
was her paternal great aunt. McKenna attended the Oldcastle Endowed School and went on to pass the
National University of Ireland
The National University of Ireland (NUI) ( ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann) is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called ''university college, constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under t ...
matriculation exam. She attended
University College Dublin
University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...
briefly, but the family's circumstances meant she could not complete her course.
Her father had been an active member of the
Land League
The Irish National Land League (Irish: ''Conradh na Talún'') was an Irish political organisation of the late 19th century which sought to help poor tenant farmers. Its primary aim was to abolish landlordism in Ireland and enable tenant farmer ...
and the Meath Labour Union. He was one of the organisers of a short-lived local newspaper, ''Sinn Féin – Oldcastle Monthly Review'', in 1902. Both her parents were in the
Gaelic League
(; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it emer ...
.
Arthur Griffith
Arthur Joseph Griffith ( ga, Art Seosamh Ó Gríobhtha; 31 March 1871 – 12 August 1922) was an Irish writer, newspaper editor and politician who founded the political party Sinn Féin. He led the Irish delegation at the negotiations that prod ...
and
Brian O'Higgins
Brian O'Higgins ( ga, Brian Ó hUigínn; 1 July 1882 – 10 March 1963), also known as Brian na Banban, was an Irish writer, poet, soldier and politician who was a founding member of Sinn Féin and served as President of the organisation from 1 ...
frequently visited the family home. Denounced by the local parish priest, Fr Robert Barry, her father's business went into decline. The family left Oldcastle in August 1915, to move to
Dundalk
Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...
, and later in March 1916 to
Rugby, Warwickshire
Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon. In the 2021 census its population was 78,125, making it the second-largest town in Warwickshire. It is the main settlement within the larger Borough of Rugby whi ...
. In Rugby, her father taught typing and shorthand, and her mother worked in an ammunition factory. McKenna worked as a secretary for an engineering firm. Members of the family returned to Ireland from 1919 to 1922, and by the time of her father's death, he was living back in Oldcastle.
Career
McKenna would holiday in Ireland, and during a visit to
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
in the summer of 1919, she presented herself to 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 Gri ...
offices in Harcourt Street. She had a letter of introduction from her father to Griffith, which emphasised her willingness to work for Irish independence. For her holidays, she worked in the Sinn Féin press bureau and was employed as one of the first "
dáil girls" of the clandestine government. She was informed that if a planned news bulletin came through, she would be summoned back to Dublin. In October 1919, she received the summons, and after a typing test on 11 November, she joined the ''
Irish Bulletin
The ''Irish Bulletin'' was the official gazette of the government of the Irish Republic. It was produced by the Department of Propaganda during the Irish War of Independence. and its offices were originally located at No. 6 Harcourt Street, Dubl ...
'' under minister for propaganda,
Desmond FitzGerald, and director of publicity,
Robert Brennan. She also became a member of the Gaelic League Parnell branch.
The ''Irish Bulletin'' was published 5 times a week, circulating the misdeeds of the British government in Ireland. McKenna would edit and
mimeograph
A mimeograph machine (often abbreviated to mimeo, sometimes called a stencil duplicator) is a low-cost duplicating machine that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper. The process is called mimeography, and a copy made by the pro ...
a summary of "acts of aggression" from British forces in Ireland weekly, compiled by
Anna Kelly.
Frank Gallagher did most of the writing, edited by FitzGerald, and later
Erskine Childers. Though McKenna is sometimes described as the ''Bulletins editor, she was more akin to an editorial assistant.
R.M. Smyllie later recalled that she was in regular contact with the media. She would type out each issue on a wax stencil in a typewriter, which was then used to create mimeograph copies, and then circulated to England. In the beginning, about 30 recipients, mostly London journalists, received the ''Bulletin'' but by October 1920 it had grow to 600, and by July 1921 over 1200. She also kept the accounts, took dictation of statements, and at times worked up articles from notes given to her by Griffith or others. She also acted as a confidential messenger, couriering between dáil departments and IRA leaders such as
Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to:
* Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician
* Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...
. Through this, she met
Moya Llewelyn Davies.
The ''Bulletin'' became a symbol of the underground government, and a target for British forces. This necessitated the frequent moving of the operation from one Dublin hideout to another. She feared that if she were captured, she would break under interrogation. When FitzGerald was arrested, he had been asked about "the girl wearing a green tam" in reference to McKenna's
tam-o'-shanter hat which prompted her to change her choice of hat. Despite the capture of a number of the ''Bulletin'' staff, as well as the capture of the office files and equipment on 26 March 1921, it never missed an issue.
McKenna's sister Winifred also worked as a secretary to the clandestine government. Her brother, Tadhg (Timothy) (1899–1931), was a member of Sinn Féin and in
Greenore
Greenore () is a village, townland and deep water port on Carlingford Lough in County Louth, Ireland.
History
A lighthouse was built on Greenore Point in 1830.
Several decades later, the Dundalk and Greenore Railway Act of 1863 authorised th ...
, County Louth was involved in trade union affairs. He was detained, beaten, and interned in March 1921. He was later an activist with the
Irish Labour Party
The Labour Party ( ga, Páirtí an Lucht Oibre, literally "Party of the Working People") is a centre-left and social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. Founded on 28 May 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, ...
. Her brother William was a messenger for the Irish government during this period, and during the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
served in the
Free State Army
The National Army, sometimes unofficially referred to as the Free State army or the Regulars, was the army of the Irish Free State from January 1922 until October 1924. Its role in this period was defined by its service in the Irish Civil War, ...
.
After the truce in 1921, McKenna was assigned to the dáil cabinet secretarial staff at the
Mansion House, where she continued to work in the publicity department. She travelled as Griffith's private secretary to London as part of the Irish delegation to the treaty negotiations in October 1921. She was an admirer of both Griffith and Collins, and was a firm supporter of the
Anglo-Irish treaty
The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ( ga , An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the ...
. She worked as Griffith's secretary until just before his death and also did some secretarial work for Collins during the negotiations. One of her sisters was anti-treaty, and she later recalled that she lost friends due to her support of the treaty.
When the
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...
government was established, McKenna became a private secretary to a number of ministers for external affairs, including FitzGerald,
Kevin O'Higgins
Kevin Christopher O'Higgins ( ga, Caoimhghín Críostóir Ó hUigín; 7 June 1892 – 10 July 1927) was an Irish politician who served as Vice-President of the Executive Council and Minister for Justice from 1922 to 1927, Minister for External ...
and
W. T. Cosgrave
William Thomas Cosgrave (5 June 1880 – 16 November 1965) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as the president of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1932, leader of the Opposition in both the Free State and Ire ...
. In 1924, she was a private secretary to the boundary commission, as well as one of a pair of secretaries who travelled with the Irish delegation to the London
imperial conference
Imperial Conferences (Colonial Conferences before 1907) were periodic gatherings of government leaders from the self-governing colonies and dominions of the British Empire between 1887 and 1937, before the establishment of regular Meetings of ...
in 1924. From 1927 to 1931 she was
James Dolan's secretary and parliamentary secretary to the minister for industry and commerce. Before its closure in 1924, she wrote a number of articles for the ''
Freeman's Journal
The ''Freeman's Journal'', which was published continuously in Dublin from 1763 to 1924, was in the nineteenth century Ireland's leading nationalist newspaper.
Patriot journal
It was founded in 1763 by Charles Lucas and was identified with radi ...
''.
Life in Italy
McKenna married Vittorio Napoli in 1931. He was a captain, and later a general, in the Italian royal grenadier guards. They met when she was on holiday in Italy in 1927. For the first 5 years of their marriage, they lived in the port of
Derna in Cyrenaica, Libya, while her husband was stationed there. A son and daughter were born there. From September 1939 to June 1940, the family lived in
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
, but after Italy entered
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, McKenna and the children moved to
Viterbo
Viterbo (; Viterbese: ; lat-med, Viterbium) is a city and ''comune'' in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo.
It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in its early history. ...
. Her husband was taken prisoner in Greece, where he was serving, in September 1943, and was detained in Germany and Poland. He returned to Italy in September 1945. Viterbo had been heavily bombed, and after Allied troops arrived, McKenna worked as a translator and gave English lessons to support her family. Her husband remained in the army, and they remained in Viterbo until 1956, later moving to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
.
After the war, McKenna wrote articles for the ''
Irish Independent
The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis.
The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines.
Traditionally a broadsheet new ...
'' and other publications from Ireland, the United States, and New Zealand including ''
The Irish Press
''The Irish Press'' (Irish: ''Scéala Éireann'') was an Irish national daily newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995.
Foundation
The paper's first issue was published on the eve of the 1931 All-Ireland ...
'', ''Irish Travel'', ''Standard'', ''Word'', and ''
Writer's Digest
''Writer's Digest'' is an American magazine aimed at beginning and established writers. It contains interviews, market listings, calls for manuscripts, and how-to articles.
History
''Writer's Digest'' was first published in December 1920 under ...
''. Sometimes she wrote under her own name, as well as her pen name Kayn or Kayen MacKay. As the wives of Italian officers did not traditionally work, the money she earned from this was kept for travel and other leisure activities. This money allowed her to visit Ireland in 1947 for the first time since 1932, to visit her family. After their retirement, McKenna and her husband would visit Ireland regularly, and travelled around Italy.
Later life and death
McKenna applied for an Irish military pension in 1950/51 and 1970, receiving references in support of her claim from Gallagher. As she had not served in a military organisation, her claims were rejected. As a War of Independence veteran, she was awarded free travel in 1972, which was later extended to her husband. In her later year, McKenna became concerned about the inaccuracies in the history around the War of Independence and the Civil War. She gave two talks to
Radio Éireann
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitt ...
in 1951, speaking about her time with the ''Irish Bulletin''. Copies of these recordings are now held by the Bureau of Military History. During her lifetime, extracts of her memoir were published in the ''
Capuchin Annual
The ''Capuchin Annual'' was an Irish annual publication published every year in Dublin by the Capuchins from 1930 to 1977. The motto of the publication was ''Do chum Glóire Dé agus Onóra na hÉireann (For the Glory of God and the Honour of I ...
'' and ''
The Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
''. She had drafted and redrafted these memoirs from the late 1940s to the early 1980s. A version edited by her daughter and niece was published in 2014 as ''A dáil girl's revolutionary recollections''. McKenna died on 22 March 1988 in Rome. She was buried with an Irish flag which she had kept with her.
A large collection of her papers is held in the
National Library of Ireland
The National Library of Ireland (NLI; ga, Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is the Republic of Ireland's national library located in Dublin, in a building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. The mission of the National Library of Ireland is ...
. In 2010, 2011 and 2016, some of her memorabilia was sold in Dublin.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Napoli McKenna, Kathleen
1897 births
1988 deaths
People from County Meath
Irish nationalists
Irish emigrants to Italy
People of the Irish Civil War (Pro-Treaty side)
People of the Irish War of Independence
20th-century Irish writers
20th-century Irish women writers
Irish women journalists
Women in war 1900–1945
Women in war in Ireland