Kathleen Browne

Kathleen Anne Browne (1 October 1878 – 9 October 1943) was an Irish politician, farmer, writer, historian and archaeologist. She was arrested after the Easter Rising and held in Kilmainham Gaol. During the Civil War, she was Pro-Treaty and joined Cumann na nGaedheal. She was a member of Seanad Éireann from 1929 to 1936. She was a fluent speaker of Yola, an Anglic language of Wexford.

Early life Browne was born on 1 October 1878 to Michael Browne, a farmer, shopkeeper and local politician, and Mary Eleanor Stafford. She was the eldest of five children. Her father's family was of Norman extraction and had lived at Rathcronan Castle since the 13th century. Her mother's family lived in Baldwinstown Castle, County Wexford. Michael Browne was a poor law guardian and a member of Wexford's first County Council. He supported Home Rule and had worked with Charles Stewart Parnell.

Browne was educated at a convent school in Wexford. As a child, she shared her father's interest in politics and was a young member of the Kilmore branch of the Ladies' Land League. She was a romantic nationalist and loved to dress in Celtic clothing and pose with an Irish wolfhound. she was secretary of the county committee of the Gaelic League. Ryan was Anti-Treaty and their friendship did not survive the Civil War.

She was elected to Seanad Éireann of the Irish Free State as a Cumann na nGaedheal member, at a by-election on 20 June 1929. The by-election was caused by the death of Alice Stopford Green. She was re-elected for three years in 1931 and was re-elected for nine years in 1934.

She joined the Army Comrades Association, known as the Blueshirts, in 1933. Browne claimed not be a fascist, but had joined ranks with the ACA because she shared their Anti-Communist and Republican viewpoints. Following the merger of the Blueshirts into Fine Gael, she remained a part of the Fine Gael faction rather than continuing to follow O'Duffy's ventures such as the National Corporate Party.

At this point she seemed to gravitate more towards the new Fine Gael leader W. T. Cosgrave, who she became personal friends with.