Máire Ní Chinnéide (English ''Mary'' or ''Molly O'Kennedy'') (17 January 1879 – 25 May 1967) was an
Irish language
Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...
activist
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
,
playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays.
Etymology
The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
, first President of the
Camogie Association
The Camogie Association ( ga, An Cumann Camógaíochta, formerly ga, Cumann Camógaíochta na nGael) organises and promotes the sport of camogie in Ireland and around the world. The association has close ties with the Gaelic Athletic Associati ...
and first woman president of
Oireachtas na Gaeilge
Oireachtas na Gaeilge (, “The Irish (language) Gathering”) is an annual arts festival of Irish culture, which has run since the 1890s. Inspired by the Welsh eisteddfodau, the festival has included different events connected with Irish langu ...
.
Máire was born in
Rathmines
Rathmines () is an affluent inner suburb on the Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It lies three kilometres south of the city centre. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to t ...
in 1879 and attended
Muckross Park College
, former_name = St. Mary's University College
, logo =
, motto = la, Veritas
, motto_translation = Truth
, type = Private secondary school
, gender = Girls
, established =
, ...
and
Royal University (later the
NUI) where she was a classmate of
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 ...
,
Helena Concannon
Helena Concannon (; 28 October 1878 – 27 February 1952) was an Irish historian, writer, language scholar and Fianna Fáil politician.
Born in Maghera, County Londonderry, she attended secondary school in Dublin in Loreto North Great Georges S ...
, and
Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington
Johanna Mary Sheehy Skeffington (née Sheehy; 24 May 1877 – 20 April 1946) was a suffragette and Irish nationalist. Along with her husband Francis Sheehy Skeffington, Margaret Cousins and James Cousins, she founded the Irish Women's Franchis ...
.
Irish language
Máire learned
Irish
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 ...
on holiday in
Ballyvourney
Ballyvourney ( ga, Baile Bhuirne , meaning 'Town of the Beloved', also spelled ) is a Gaeltacht village in southwest County Cork, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the barony of Muskerry West, and is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Cat ...
and earned the first scholarship in Irish from the
Royal University, worth £100 a year, which was spent on visits to the Irish college in
Ballingeary
Ballingeary (, ) is a village in the Shehy Mountains in County Cork, Ireland.
The village is located within the Muskerry ''Gaeltacht'' (Irish-speaking area). According to the 2016 census, over 42% of the population speak Irish on a daily basis ...
.
She studied in the school of Old Irish established by professor
Osborn Bergin
Osborn Joseph Bergin (26 November 1873 – 6 October 1950) was a scholar of the Irish language and early Irish literature, who discovered Bergin's Law.
He was born in Cork, sixth child and eldest son of Osborn Roberts Bergin and Sarah Reddin, a ...
and was strongly influenced by the
Irish-Australian
Irish Australians ( ga, Gael-Astrálaigh) are an ethnic group of Australians, Australian citizens of Irish descent, which include immigrants from and descendants whose ancestry originates from the Ireland, island of Ireland.
Irish Australians ...
professor O'Daly. She later taught
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
through Irish at
Ballingeary
Ballingeary (, ) is a village in the Shehy Mountains in County Cork, Ireland.
The village is located within the Muskerry ''Gaeltacht'' (Irish-speaking area). According to the 2016 census, over 42% of the population speak Irish on a daily basis ...
and became proficient in
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
,
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
,
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
and
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
.
She spent the last £100 of her scholarship on a
dowry
A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment b ...
for her marriage to Sean MacGearailt, later first Accountant General of Revenue in the
Irish civil service
The Civil Service ( ga, An Státseirbhís) of Ireland is the collective term for the permanent staff of the departments of state and certain state agencies who advise and work for the Government of Ireland. It consists of two broad components, t ...
, with whom she lived originally in
Glasnevin
Glasnevin (, also known as ''Glas Naedhe'', meaning "stream of O'Naeidhe" after a local stream and an ancient chieftain) is a neighbourhood of Dublin, Ireland, situated on the River Tolka. While primarily residential, Glasnevin is also home t ...
and then in
Dalkey
Dalkey ( ; ) is an affluent suburb of Dublin, and a seaside resort southeast of the city, and the town of Dún Laoghaire, in the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown in the historic County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement ...
.
She was a founder member of the radical Craobh an Chéitinnigh, the Keating branch of 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 ...
(Conradh na Gaelige), composed mainly of
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 ...
-based Kerry people and regarded, by themselves at least, as the intellectual focus of the League.
Camogie
In August 1904, some six years after the establishment of the earliest women's
hurling
Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...
teams, the rules of
camogie
Camogie ( ; ga, camógaíocht ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities.
A variant of the game of hurling (which is played by men onl ...
(then called ''camoguidheacht''), first appeared in ''Banba'', a journal produced by Craobh an Chéitinnigh. Camogie had come to public attention when it was showcased at the annual Oireachtas (Gaelic League Festival) earlier that year, and it differed from men's hurling in its use of a lighter ball and a smaller playing-field. Máire Ní Chinnéide and Cáit Ní Dhonnchadha (like Ní Chinnéide, an Irish-language enthusiast and cultural nationalist), were credited with having created the game, with the assistance of Ní Dhonnchadha's scholarly brother
Tadhg Ó Donnchadha
Tadhg Ó Donnchadha (1874 – 1949) was an Irish writer, poet, editor, translator and a prominent member of the Gaelic League (''Conradh na Gaeilge'') and the Gaelic Athletic Association. He was editor of ''Irisleabhar na Gaedhilge'' (The G ...
, who drew up its rules. She was on the first camogie team to play an exhibition match in Navan in July 1904, became an early propagandist for the game and, in 1905 was elected president of the infant Camogie Association. She wrote:
"all existing games were passed in review, but it was felt from the first that Hurling was the model on which the new game should be formed.” Initial matches were played on the grounds of Mr O’Dowd in Drumcondra Park, but “the place was not very suitable and players did not join in any numbers until the Keating Camoguidhthe betook themselves to the
Phoenix Park
The Phoenix Park ( ga, Páirc an Fhionnuisce) is a large urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its perimeter wall encloses of recreational space. It includes large areas of grassland and tre ...
, where they have a convenient ground well off the main road."
Gaelic League
Máire later served as Vice-President of Craobh an Chéitinnigh, to
Cathal Brugha
Cathal Brugha (; born Charles William St John Burgess; 18 July 1874 – 7 July 1922) was an Irish republican politician who served as Minister for Defence from 1919 to 1922, Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann in January 1919, the first presiden ...
. She was active in
Cumann na mBan
Cumann na mBan (; literally "The Women's Council" but calling themselves The Irishwomen's Council in English), abbreviated C na mB, is an Irish republican women's paramilitary organisation formed in Dublin on 2 April 1914, merging with and di ...
during the
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...
and took the pro-treaty side 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 ...
and attempted to set up a woman's organisation "in support of the Free State" alongside
Jennie Wyse Power
Jane Wyse Power ( ga, Siobhán Bean an Phaoraigh; ; 1 May 1858 – 5 January 1941) was an Irish activist, feminist, politician and businesswoman. She was a founder member of Sinn Féin and also of Inghinidhe na hÉireann. She rose in the ranks t ...
.
Peig Sayers
Máire first visited the
Blasket Islands
The Blasket Islands ( ga, Na Blascaodaí) are an uninhabited group of islands off the west coast of the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. The last island to hold a significant population, Great Blasket Island, was abandoned in 1954 due ...
in 1932 with her daughter Niamh, who was to die tragically young. In the summer of 1934, Máire Bean Nic Gearailt as she was then, who had known
Peig Sayers
Máiréad "Peig" Sayers (; 29 March 18738 December 1958) was an Irish author and seanchaí ( or – plural: ) born in Dún Chaoin, County Kerry, Ireland. Seán Ó Súilleabháin, the former Chief archivist for the Irish Folklore Commission, ...
, put the idea into the old woman's head to write a memoir. According to a later interview with Ní Chinnéide
:"she knew and admired her gift for easy conversation, her gracious charm as a hostess, her talent for illustrating a point she was making by a story out of her own experience that was as rich in philosophy and thought as it was limited geographically."
Peig answered that she had "nothing to write." She had learned only to read and write in English at school and most of it was forgotten.
Máire Ní Chinnéide suggested Peig should dictate her memoir to her son Micheal, known to everyone on the island as An File ("The Poet"), but Peig "only shook her head doubtfully." At Christmas, a packet arrived from the
Blaskets
The Blasket Islands ( ga, Na Blascaodaí) are an uninhabited group of islands off the west coast of the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. The last island to hold a significant population, Great Blasket Island, was abandoned in 1954 due ...
with a manuscript, Máire transcribed it word for word and in summer brought it back to the Blaskets to read it to Peig.
She then edited the manuscript for the Talbot Press. Peig became well known as a prescribed text on the
Leaving Certificate
A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination.
For each leaving certifica ...
curriculum in Irish.
Writing
Máire had an acting part in the first modern play performed in Irish on the stage, ''Casadh an tSugáin'' by
Douglas Hyde
Douglas Ross Hyde ( ga, Dubhghlas de hÍde; 17 January 1860 – 12 July 1949), known as (), was an Irish academic, linguist, scholar of the Irish language, politician and diplomat who served as the first President of Ireland from June 1938 t ...
in 1901. She was later author of children's plays staged by An Comhar Drámuidhachta at the Oireachtas and the
Peacock Theatre
The Peacock Theatre (previously the Royalty Theatre) is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, located in Portugal Street, near Aldwych. The 999-seat house is owned by, and comprises part of the London School of Economics and Politica ...
, of which ''Gleann na Sidheóg'' and ''An Dúthchas'' (1908) were published. She was a broadcaster in Irish on 2RN/Radio Éireann after its foundation in 1926 and author of a translation of
Grimms' Fairy Tales
''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', originally known as the ''Children's and Household Tales'' (german: Kinder- und Hausmärchen, lead=yes, ), is a German collection of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, Grimm brothers or "Brothers Grimm", Jacob Grimm, Ja ...
(1923). She was president of the Gaelic Players Dramatic group during the 1930s and a founder of the Gaelic Writers Association in 1939.
Ní Chinnéide soon became interested in writing children's plays, including "Gleann na Sidheóg"
airy Glen(1905) and "Sidheoga na mBláth"
lower Fairies(1909). Although there is little information available on the staging of Ní Chinnéide's first play, by the time her second children's play, ''Sidheóga na mBláth,'' was published in ''An Claidheamh Soluis'' in December 1907, "Éire Óg"
Young Ireland"branches of the Gaelic League had been established in conjunction with adults' branches. P.H. Pearse in particular voiced the expectation that this play would be staged by many "Éire Óg" branches "before the New Year is very old," thus indicating the immediate take up of such plays. Indeed, a week after the play's publication, it was staged in the Dominican College in Donnybrook, Dublin, where Ní Chinnéide had spent several years as an Irish teacher.
Personal life
She died on 25 April 1967
and is buried in
Deans Grange Cemetery
Deans Grange Cemetery (; also spelled ''Deansgrange'') is situated in the suburban area of Deansgrange in the Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown part of the former County Dublin, Ireland. Since it first opened in 1865, over 150,000 people have been burie ...
.
Trophy
In 2007 the
camogie
Camogie ( ; ga, camógaíocht ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities.
A variant of the game of hurling (which is played by men onl ...
trophy for the annual inter-county
All Ireland Championship for counties graded Junior B was named in her honour.
Publications
* ''Gleann na Sidheóg''. (Dublin : Muintir na Leabhar Gaedhilge, 1905).
* ''An Dúthchas: dráma éin-ghníomha''. (Dublin: Connradh na Gaedhilge, 1908).
* ''Scéalta ó Ghrimm (Jacob Grimm 1785–1863)'' (Translation, Dublin: Conradh na Gaedhilge, 1923).
* ''Peig i a scéal féin do scríobh Peig Sayers''; (Edited, Dublin, Talbot Press 1936, and subsequent editions)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ni Chinneide, Maire
1879 births
1967 deaths
19th-century Irish people
20th-century Irish people
Founders of Gaelic games institutions
Gaelic games players from County Dublin
Irish-language writers
Presidents of the Camogie Association