Marie Johnson (24 December 1874 – 12 July 1974), was an Irish trade unionist, suffragist and teacher.

Personal life

Marie Johnson was born Marie Annie Tregay in

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

on 24 December 1874. Her father was James Tregay, a miner, who was blinded as a young man and ended up becoming basket-weaver. He believed in Irish home rule. Johnson was educated in Whitelands College in Chelsea, London, qualifying in 1894 as a teacher. She went to work in St. Multose's National school, Kinsale. There she met Thomas Johnson. She married him in Liverpool in 1898. He had worked in Kinsale where he met Johnson but went on to take a job that moved him with his family to Belfast. They had one son, actor Thomas James Frederick, in 1899. Both of them became involved in trade unionism. Her husband went on to become the leader of the Irish Labour Party, a TD and a Senator.

Activism

Together the couple worked to unionise the Belfast Mill Workers. Johnson worked closely with

Winifred Carney Maria Winifred Carney (4 December 1887 – 21 November 1943), also known as Winnie Carney, was an Irish suffragist, trade unionist, and Irish independence activist. Early life Born into a lower-middle class Catholic family at Fisher' ...

and introduced her to James Connolly. She had been secretary of the Textile Workers' Union, but when she became ill she recommended Carney for the role. Later she became the leader of the

Irish Women Workers' Union The Irish Women Workers' Union was a trade union which was set up at a meeting on 5 September 1911 in Dublin, Ireland. The meeting had been organized by Delia Larkin. The union was created because other trade unions of the time excluded women worke ...

. She was an enthusiastic supporter of the

Women's Social and Political Union The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom from 1903 to 1918. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership and ...

. When Carney stood for election as a

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 ...

candidate, Johnson was part of her campaign executive. In 1913 Johnson was active fundraising to support the victims of the

Dublin lock-out The Dublin lock-out was a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers that took place in Ireland's capital and largest city, Dublin. The dispute, lasting from 26 August 1913 to 18 January 1914, is often vie ...

. She was involved in the peace negotiations of 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 ...

. Johnson represented Ireland during the 4th congress of the

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is a non-profit non-governmental organization working "to bring together women of different political views and philosophical and religious backgrounds determined to study and make kno ...

in Washington in 1924, where she was able to present to Congress that Ireland had universal suffrage. In 1925 Johnson became the first Labour woman elected to local government, when she was elected to the Rathmines Urban Council. She died in a home in

Howth Howth ( ; ; non, Hǫfuð) is an affluent peninsular village and outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The district as a whole occupies the greater part of the peninsula of Howth Head, which forms the northern boundary of Dublin Bay, and includes ...

, Co. Dublin, but not before she created an account of her connection with the suffrage movement, which is housed in the National Library.

References and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Marie 1874 births 1974 deaths Irish suffragists Irish women's rights activists Irish trade unionists