Mary Jane O'Donovan Rossa (27 January 1845 – 18 August 1916) was an Irish poet and political activist.

Early life and family

Mary Jane O'Donovan Rossa, born Mary Jane Irwin, was born in Clonakilty, County Cork on 27 January 1845. She was the daughter of Maxwell Irwin, a merchant, and a member of the Young Ireland movement. She attended boarding school, at the Sacred Heart Convent, Roscrea, and began writing poetry as a child. She married Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa on 22 August 1864. Her husband swore her brothers in to the IRB. The couple went on to have 13 children, not all of whom survived into adulthood.

Fenian activities

O'Donovan wrote poetry for the Fenian newspaper ''

The Irish People ''The Irish People'' was the title of a number of mostly political newspapers in Ireland and America. * *'' The Irish People'' (1863–1865) was an Irish nationalist newspaper of the Fenian movement founded in 1863 by James Stephens. Nationalist ...

'', writing under the pseudonyms "Cliodhna" and "M.J.I.". In 1865, the newspaper was suppressed and her husband was arrested. She became the secretary of the "ladies committee" which was tasked with collecting money for the families of incarcerated Fenians, which went on to raise funds for the nearly 3000 families needing help. O'Donovan resigned from the committee in March 1867 as police suspected she was using the money to fund the IRB. She wrote to William Ewart Gladstone to lobby for her husband's release, but received no reply.

Life in America

Following the advice of her husband, O'Donovan emigrated to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Her fare was paid by

Richard Pigott Richard Pigott (1835 – 1 March 1889) was an Irish journalist, best known for his forging of evidence that Charles Stewart Parnell of the Irish National Land League had been sympathetic to the perpetrators of the Phoenix Park Murders. Parn ...

. She supported herself by public speaking, writing, and giving elocution lessons. Her only volume of poetry, ''Irish lyrical poems'', was published in 1868 in New York. Her husband was released from prison in January 1871, and joined her in New York, where they lived for the next 20 years at 1009 Hancock Street, Brooklyn. The family moved to

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

after the death of their son Maxwell in 1893.

Later life

O'Donovan was a supporter of

female suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

and Clan na Gael, but also believed that female organisations, such as Cumann na mBan, should take a subservient role to their male counterparts in politics. The couple left America in November 1905 for her husband to take up a position with Cork County Council. Owing to her poor health, O'Donovan returned to America in February 1906, with her husband leaving his job to follow her. From 1910 to his death, her husband was hospitalised due to his failing health. O'Donovan accompanied his remains back to Ireland in August 1915. When back in Ireland, O'Donovan published a number of articles in the press and several poems. Having returned to America, she reported on events in Ireland for the ''

Gaelic American ''The Gaelic American'' was an Irish nationalist newspaper published in the United States from 1903 to 1951 that was, along with the ''Irish Nation'', owned by John Devoy. It was re-launched as an online news publication in 2021. History A week ...

''. ''In memory of Padraig Pearse'', her last poem was written days before her own death. O'Donovan died in New York on 18 August 1916.

References

External links

''Irish Lyrical Poems'', Mrs O'Donovan Rossa, New York, 1868

''Fenianism: A Male Business? A Case Study of Mary Jane O'Donovan Rossa'', Lehne.S., M.A. dissertation, 1995
{{DEFAULTSORT:ODonovan Rossa, Mary Jane 1845 births 1916 deaths People from County Cork 19th-century Irish poets 19th-century Irish writers 19th-century Irish women writers 20th-century Irish poets 20th-century Irish writers 20th-century Irish women writers