Kay Keohane-O'Riordan (22 September 1910 – 17 December 1991) was an Irish social campaigner and communist.

Early life and family

Kay Keohane-O'Riordan was born Catherine Keohane on Convent Road, Clonakilty, County Cork on 22 September 1910. Her parents were Julianna (née O'Regan) and Laurence Keohane, a stonemason. She was the fourth child of 3 sons and 4 daughters. Both of O'Riordan's parents, as children, had been evicted with their families from their tenant farms during the land war. Her maternal grandfather went on to establish an egg dealing business in Clonakilty, which still exists as Shannonvale Foods. O'Riordan's father was a native and literate Irish speaker, and a lifelong supporter of the Labour Party. Her sister, Máire, went on to become a labour and trade union activist. She attended the local primary school and the Mercy Convent, Clonakilty. After leaving school, she entered the civil service, working for the Department of Social Welfare in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

Clonmel Clonmel () is the county town and largest settlement of County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, Cromwellian army which sacked the towns of Dro ...

and later

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 ...

, before moving to the civil aviation section of the Department of Industry and Commerce. She married Michael O'Riordan in November 1946, at Rathmines catholic church, Dublin. Due to the marriage bar, she had to retire from the civil service. On their honeymoon in England, they visited Irish republicans in Parkhurst prison, who were imprisoned for taking part in the 1939

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

bombing campaign. In February 1946, they moved from Cork to Dublin, living at 37 Victoria Street, South Circular Road, Portobello. They had two daughters and a son, their eldest daughter died in infancy. Their daughter, Brenda (born 1952), became a language teacher and a harpist, and their son, Manus (born 1949), worked for trade unions.

Activism

O'Riordan was one of the founding members of the Irish Workers' League in 1947, with both she and her husband actively involved in the organisation. She negotiated being both a devout Catholic and a communist, having to seek out a priest, in Whitefriars Street Carmelite church, who was a sympathetic confessor. She was an active member of the Irish-Soviet Friendship Society and later the Ireland–USSR Society. While sympathetic to the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, she was also critical of them, including the suppression of the Hungarian uprising in 1956. She opposed all forms of antisemitism, and was involved in the activities of the

Irish Jewish Museum The Irish Jewish Museum ( ga, Músaem Giúdach na hÉireann) is a small museum located in the once highly Jewish populated area of Portobello, around the South Circular Road, Dublin 8, dedicated to the history of the Irish Jewish community. The ...

and the local Jewish community in Portobello, which was close to her home. She was also involved in the anti-apartheid movement, and was involved in a number of campaigns for civil rights and the improvement of social conditions. She was active in children's literacy programmes, and in the assistance of refugees from Chile fleeing the Pinochet regime. She was a longtime member of Conradh na Gaeilge, and raised her children as Irish speakers. She was a gifted singer and played the Irish harp, performing on

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 ...

and at 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 ...

. She was a member of the

Music Association of Ireland The Music Association of Ireland (MAI) was set up in 1948 to improve the position of classical music within the cultural life of Ireland. It was instrumental in setting up the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland and played a leading role in the lo ...

and

Cairde na Cruite Cairde is an Irish dance group known for their TikTok videos, where they put a modern twist on traditional Irish dancing. The group started actively posting content on TikTok in August 2020, where they began posting Irish dance videos to trendi ...

. O'Riordan was also interested in German culture, music, and language and was involved with the Goethe Institute. She corresponded with Sean O'Casey over many years, and was the subject of two portraits by Gaetano de Gennaro in 1943. O'Riordan died in Meath Hospital, Dublin on 17 December 1991. She was cremated in Glasnevin crematorium.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keohane-ORiordan, Kay 1910 births 1991 deaths People from County Cork Irish women activists Irish communists