Muriel MacSwiney

Muriel MacSwiney (, 8 June 1892 – 26 October 1982) was an Irish republican and left-wing activist, and the first woman to be given the Freedom of New York City. She was the wife of Terence MacSwiney, mother of Máire MacSwiney Brugha and sister-in-law of Mary MacSwiney. The 1920 hunger strike of her husband Terence became an international cause célèbre, and following his death she became one of the most high profile Irish republican activists in the world, widely campaigning in the United States throughout the early 1920s. Following the defeat of the Anti-Treaty IRA in the Irish Civil War in 1923, Muriel never again lived in Ireland and instead embarked upon a bohemian life on the European continent. However, this led to a falling out with her daughter Máire, resulting in a bitter custody battle when Máire attempted to return to Ireland and ultimately total estrangement after 1934. MacSwiney spent most of the 1930s in Paris, France and from 1940 onwards lived in England, where she still occasionally involved herself in left-wing and republican causes.

Early life Muriel Frances Murphy was born on 8 June 1892 to a wealthy Cork family. Her father was Nicholas Murphy and her mother Mary Gertrude Purcell of Carrigmore, in Montenotte, Cork city. MacSwiney was sent away to school, to a convent in Sussex. As an adult she came to despise the privilege of her upbringing, remarking that her family was "completely imperialist, conservative, capitalist, and Roman Catholic".

Political activism and marriage to Terence MacSwiney

By 1915 she had become interested and involved in the Irish nationalist movement, and joined both the Gaelic League and Cumann na mBan. It was as part of these organisations she met and befriended the sisters of Terence MacSwiney. Murphy witnessed MacSwiney give a public speech at a Manchester Martyrs meeting, but didn't meet him personally until Christmas 1915 when she attended an evening at the Fleischmann. From there they began seeing each other, and during the Easter Rising of 1916, Murphy brought MacSwiney food and information to Volunteer Hall in Cork, where MacSwiney was held up with other members of the Irish Volunteers, confused about whether they should mobilise or not. Their relationship continued to develop in the aftermath of the Rising and the two communicated by letter while MacSwiney was imprisoned. Murphy's family was horrified by the courtship and discouraged it every step of the way, nevertheless, after MacSwiney was deported to England immediately after his release from prison, Murphy joined him there. The two married on 9 June 1917 in Bromyard, England one day after Murphy's 25th birthday, and one day after she was eligible for her inheritance, ensuring the independence of the couple from the Murphy family. In the aftermath, Muriel was the only member of Terence's family to attend a British-run inquest into his death, which caused more infighting. Muriel was physically unable to return to Ireland for the funeral, which was attended by 10,000s of mourners.

Life in France and England For the duration of the 1930s, MacSwiney lived in Paris, France, where she continued to be engaged with politics, typically those of left-wing, including communist, groups. She was particularly active in the Ligue de l'enseignement, a non-sectarian teachers' union that she recruited Owen Sheehy Skeffington, an Irish socialist who was living in Paris at the time, into. While living in France she was romantically involved with the Communist Pierre Kaan. Kaan, a member of the French resistance during World War II, was sent to a concentration camp by the Gestapo and died on 18 May 1945 as a result of his treatment there. In 1972, she spoke publicly at a meeting of the Workers’ Association for the Democratic Settlement of the National Conflict in Ireland.