Kathleen Napoli McKenna

Kathleen Napoli McKenna (9 September 1897 – 22 March 1988) was an Irish nationalist activist and journalist closely associated with Arthur Griffith.

Early life and family Kathleen Napoli McKenna was born Kathleen Maria Kenna on 9 September 1897 in Oldcastle, County Meath. Her parents were William (1862–1939), a draper and hardware merchant, and Mary Kenna (née Hanley). She was the eldest child of seven, with 3 sisters and 3 brothers. She and her siblings added "Mc" to their names as teenagers. Her maternal grandfather was a strong influence on McKenna, he was a Fenian, miller and land agitator. Agnes O'Farrelly was her paternal great aunt. McKenna attended the Oldcastle Endowed School and went on to pass the National University of Ireland matriculation exam. She attended University College Dublin briefly, but the family's circumstances meant she could not complete her course.

Her father had been an active member of the Land League and the Meath Labour Union. He was one of the organisers of a short-lived local newspaper, Sinn Féin – Oldcastle Monthly Review, in 1902. Both her parents were in the Gaelic League. Arthur Griffith and Brian O'Higgins frequently visited the family home. Denounced by the local parish priest, Fr Robert Barry, her father's business went into decline. The family left Oldcastle in August 1915, to move to Dundalk, and later in March 1916 to Rugby, Warwickshire. In Rugby, her father taught typing and shorthand, and her mother worked in an ammunition factory. McKenna worked as a secretary for an engineering firm. Members of the family returned to Ireland from 1919 to 1922, and by the time of her father's death, he was living back in Oldcastle.

The Irish Bulletin was published 5 times a week, circulating the misdeeds of the British government in Ireland. McKenna would edit and mimeograph a summary of "acts of aggression" from British forces in Ireland weekly, compiled by Anna Kelly. Frank Gallagher did most of the writing, edited by FitzGerald, and later Erskine Childers. Though McKenna is sometimes described as the Bulletin'''s editor, she was more akin to an editorial assistant. R.M. Smyllie later recalled that she was in regular contact with the media. She would type out each issue on a wax stencil in a typewriter, which was then used to create mimeograph copies, and then circulated to England. In the beginning, about 30 recipients, mostly London journalists, received the Bulletin'' but by October 1920 it had grow to 600, and by July 1921 over 1200. She also kept the accounts, took dictation of statements, and at times worked up articles from notes given to her by Griffith or others. She also acted as a confidential messenger, couriering between dáil departments and IRA leaders such as Michael Collins. Through this, she met Moya Llewelyn Davies. In 2010, 2011 and 2016, some of her memorabilia was sold in Dublin.