Kathleen O'Brennan (20 November 1876 – 1948) was an Irish campaigner for Irish independence in the US, a journalist and a playwright.

Early life

Catherine Mary Brennan was born 20 November 1876, the daughter of Francis Brennan, auctioneer, and his wife, Elizabeth Anne Butler, while they lived in 11 South Richmond Street, Dublin. They reclaimed the 'O' of their name at a time when many Irish families were returning to the 'Mac' or 'O' version that had been unrecognised for a century. Her sister Áine O'Brennan married

Éamonn Ceannt Éamonn Ceannt (21 September 1881 – 8 May 1916), born Edward Thomas Kent, was an Irish republican, mostly known for his role in the Easter Rising of 1916. Background Ceannt was born in the little village of Ballymoe, overlooking the River Su ...

and her younger sister Lily O'Brennan was a writer and playwright. Her father died in 1880, her mother in 1930. O'Brennan was a journalist and playwright. She was appointed Dublin correspondent to the ''London Times'' and went on to submit work regularly to the ''Irish Times'' and the ''Irish Tatle''r.

American life

While Lily and Áine were involved directly in the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

in 1916, O'Brennan was in the United States. She didn't let her absence from Dublin prevent her from working hard to ensure the success of Ireland's bid for independence. According to research by historian Catherine M Burns, O'Brennan arrived in America in October 1914 and stayed there for longer than expected due to the difficulty of transatlantic travel during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Working as a journalist and lecturer, O'Brennan traveled to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and spoke to women's organisations as an authority on the Gaelic league and Irish art and culture. Her lectures included details she got from her sisters and photos of Éamonn Ceannt and his son, Rónán. While on the US West Coast, O'Brennan's ties to the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines genera ...

(IWW) brought her to the attention of the US authorities, who tracked her movements and associations. She became involved in the IWW through Dr Marie Equi, with whom she had a romantic relationship. When Equi was arrested, O'Brennan worked to see her released and continued to agitate until her own arrest in 1919 during the

Red Scare A Red Scare is the promotion of a widespread fear of a potential rise of communism, anarchism or other leftist ideologies by a society or state. The term is most often used to refer to two periods in the history of the United States which ar ...

. The US government issued a deportation order for O'Brennan, but it was not enforced. During this period, O'Brennan founded the Women’s Irish Education League in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in May 1919. O'Brennan moved to the US East Coast in 1920. As Burns finds, after an "American women" picketing venture demanding US recognition of the Irish Republic was organised by William J Maloney in Washington, DC in April 1920, O'Brennan,

Gertrude Kelly Gertrude Bride Kelly (10 February 1862 – 24 February 1934) was a prominent New York City surgeon and suffragette, labour and social activist, Irish independence supporter, and anarchist. Early life Born Gertrude B. Kelly was born Brigid Kelly ...

and Gertrude Corless founded the American Women Pickets for the Enforcement of America’s War Aims in New York City. Burns argues that the organisation used American identity as a tool to shield O'Brennan's identity and to mask the radicalism of the women's cause by tying support for the Irish Republic to historical memory of the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. According to Burns, during the April 1920 picketing O'Brennan took advantage of her position as the pickets' press connection to ensure that names other than her own, such as ''Kathleen Glennon'', ''Maurya O'Brannon'' and ''Kathleen Butler'' appeared in press reports about the pickets, concealing her identity in the face of the deportation order that might be enforced were she to be seen as associated with militant women's activism for the Irish Republic. Burns maintains that after picket Helen Golden challenged their leadership by publicly designating the women pickets loyal to O'Brennan, Kelly, and Corless as Irish, rather than American. O'Brennan and Kelly then formed an American auxiliary to the

Irish White Cross The Irish White Cross was established on 1 February 1921 as a mechanism for distributing funds raised by the American Committee for Relief in Ireland. It was managed by the Quaker businessman, and later Irish Free State senator, James G. Doug ...

. Fearful that the Irish republican movement in the United States might be perceived as Irish-run, radical, and un-American, Harry Boland opposed their efforts. He and Éamon de Valera attacked O'Brennan, deeming her and Kelly as too un-American to work for the benefit of the as yet unrecognised Irish Republic in the United States. The women refused to take orders from de Valera, sealing their fate. O'Brennan departed to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

on a lecture tour in July 1921 and by June 1922 was living back in

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 ...

. During the

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War ( ga, Cogadh Cathartha na hÉireann; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United ...

, de Valera used O'Brennan's socialist reputation to approach Soviet foreign minister Georgy Chicherin while in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. The contact was hoped to provide finance and munitions but was unsuccessful.

Later life

O'Brennan's play ''Full Measure'' premiered in the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the pu ...

in 1928. She was secretary to the

Irish PEN Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

. Her personal papers are held in the National Library of Ireland along with those of other members of her family including Éamonn Ceannt, his wife Áine and her sister Lily. She is buried in Dean's Grange Cemetery with her sister Lily.

References and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:O'Brennan, Kathleen 1876 births 1948 deaths Women in war 1900–1945 Women in war in Ireland People from County Dublin Irish women writers People of the Irish Civil War (Anti-Treaty side) Irish emigrants to the United States