Máire MacSwiney Brugha
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23 June 1918
Máire MacSwiney Brugha | |
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| Born | Máire MacSwiney 23 June 1918 Cork, Ireland |
| Died | 20 May 2012 (aged 93) Dublin, Ireland |
| Notable work | History's Daughter: A Memoir from the Only Child of Terence MacSwiney |
| Spouse | Ruairí Brugha |
| Children | 4; including Cathal MacSwiney Brugha |
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Máire MacSwiney Brugha (23 June 1918 – 20 May 2012) was an Irish activist who was the daughter of Terence MacSwiney and niece of Mary MacSwiney. As well as an activist she was also an author and is now regarded as a person of historical importance.
MacSwiney Brugha was the daughter of the former lord mayor of Cork Terence MacSwiney and his wife Muriel Frances Murphy. Her father died on hunger strike when she was 2 years old. Her father was in jail when she was born and didn't see her until she was three months old, when she was brought to see him. Her family's republican and political activities left a strong mark on her life.[1][2][3]
Once her father died her mother moved to Dublin. MacSwiney went to live with Nancy O'Rahilly, widow of The O'Rahilly, and saw her mother intermittently. Although as a child her parents decided she would speak Irish, her father's death and her mother's health meant that she was moved to Germany in 1923 and there she was moved around a lot. She learned German and spoke no English and little or no Irish. In 1930 MacSwiney was moved to Grainau, in Bavaria where she attended school. Her aunt Mary MacSwiney, a legal guardian of hers, eventually came to collect her and took her back to Ireland. This caused a court case when it was claimed her aunt had kidnapped her. As a result of the court case her aunt was given custody, and she and her mother became estranged.[1][2]
