Molly O’Reilly

Molly O'Reilly (1900 – 4 October 1950) was an Irish republican and Socialist activist and soldier, taking part in the 1916 Irish Easter Rising with the Irish Citizen Army. Her family was largely apolitical prior to her involvement in politics, though her father was staunchly anti-Sinn Féin. At the age of 11 she joined Clann na nGaedheal, an Irish republican girl scouts movement formed by May and Liz Kelly in 1909.

She was a heavily influenced by James Connolly during this time and joined his socialist and republican group, the Irish Citizen Army (ICA), while also being an active member of the Irish Women Workers' Union. The ICA was founded in response to the severe conditions faced by Dublin's working classes and also to protect workers from the Dublin Metropolitan Police during strikes, such as that of the 1913 Lock-out organised by the Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU). In July 1914, after hundreds of rifles were landed at Howth by the Asgard during the Howth gun-running operation, she brought dozens of the rifles to her home at Gardner Street for storage until they could be distributed to secure weapon dumps throughout the city.

Easter Rising

When O’Reilly was fourteen years of age, she was asked by James Connolly to raise the flag of the ICA, a green flag emboldened with an uncrowned harp, over Liberty Hall a week before the Rising began.

During the 1916 Easter Rising, O'Reilly ran messages for Connolly and also served as a dispatch courier, carrying messages and information between the City Hall and the rebel garrisons at the GPO.

War of Independence, Civil War and later life After the failure of the Easter Rising and then the execution of its leaders, including James Connolly, O'Reilly travelled to Yorkshire to study nursing for a three years before returning to Ireland to join Cumann na mBan during the War of Independence.