Mary Jane O'Donovan Rossa (27 January 1845 – 18 August 1916) was an Irish

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and political activist.

Early life and family

Mary Jane O'Donovan Rossa, born Mary Jane Irwin, was born in

Clonakilty Clonakilty (; ), sometimes shortened to Clon, is a town in County Cork, Ireland. The town is at the head of the tidal Clonakilty Bay. The rural hinterland is used mainly for dairy farming. The town's population was 5,112 at the 2022 census. T ...

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

on 27 January 1845. She was the daughter of Maxwell Irwin, a merchant, and a member of the

Young Ireland Young Ireland (, ) was a political movement, political and cultural movement, cultural movement in the 1840s committed to an all-Ireland struggle for independence and democratic reform. Grouped around the Dublin weekly ''The Nation (Irish news ...

movement. She attended boarding school, at the Sacred Heart Convent, Roscrea, and began writing poetry as a child. She married

Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa (; 4 September 1831 (baptised) – 29 June 1915)Con O'Callaghan Reenascreena Community Online (dead link archived at archive.org, 29 September 2014) was an Irish Fenian leader who was one of the leading members of t ...

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'', 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 William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

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 City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. 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. Parne ...

. 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 Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. The family moved to

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

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. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffrage was in effect during ...

and

Clan na Gael Clan na Gael (CnG) (, ; "family of the Gaels") is an Irish republican organization, founded in the United States in the late 19th and 20th centuries, successor to the Fenian Brotherhood and a sister organization to the Irish Republican Bro ...

, but also believed that female organisations, such as

Cumann na mBan Cumann na mBan (; but in English termed The Irishwomen's Council), abbreviated C na mB, is an Irish republican women's paramilitary organisation formed in Dublin on 2 April 1914, merging with and dissolving Inghinidhe na hÉireann, and in 191 ...

, 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 Cork County Council () is the local authority of County Cork, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001, as amended. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban pl ...

. 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 wee ...

''. ''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 Writers 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 People from Clonakilty Irish women poets