Veronica Louise Cosgrave (; 11 March 1926 – 15 September 2016) was an Irish public figure as the wife of

Liam Cosgrave Liam Cosgrave (13 April 1920 – 4 October 2017) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1973 to 1977, Leader of Fine Gael from 1965 to 1977, Leader of the Opposition from 1965 to 1973, Minister for External Affairs from ...

, who served as

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

from 1973 to 1977.

Early life

Veronica Louise Osborne was born in Naas, County Kildare, on 11 March 1926. Her mother was the former Helen Cunningham. Her father, Joseph W. Osborne, was a

horse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for e ...

based at Craddoxtown House. Her brother Paddy Osborne was also a horse trainer.

Political life

Osborne married Liam Cosgrave on 16 April 1952. At the time, Cosgrave was a government minister; he rose to the position of

Leader of Fine Gael The Leader of Fine Gael is the most senior politician within the Fine Gael political party in Ireland. Since 2 June 2017, the office has been held by Leo Varadkar following the resignation of Enda Kenny. The deputy leader of Fine Gael is Simon ...

and

in 1973. She accompanied him to the United States for a

state visit A state visit is a formal visit by a head of state to a foreign country, at the invitation of the head of state of that foreign country, with the latter also acting as the official host for the duration of the state visit. Speaking for the host ...

in 1976, during the American Bicentennial. Vera Cosgrave also worked in

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

Personal life

Vera and Liam Cosgrave had three children, including Liam T. Cosgrave, a Fine Gael politician. She died in Dublin on 15 September 2016, aged 90 years. Her gravesite is at Goldenbridge Cemetery in

Inchicore Inchicore () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. Located approximately west of the city centre, Inchicore was originally a small village separate from Dublin. The village developed around Richmond Barracks (built 1810) and Inchicore railway works (b ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cosgrave, Vera 1926 births 2016 deaths People from County Kildare Spouses and partners of Taoisigh Cosgrave family Burials at Goldenbridge Cemetery