Phyllis Ryan

Philomena Frances Ryan (28 February 1895 – 19 November 1983) was an Irish chemist and nationalist and the second wife of President of Ireland, Seán T. O'Kelly.

Early life and family Philomena Frances Ryan was born on 28 February 1895 to John Ryan and Elizabeth (née Sutton), farmers in Tomcoole, near Taghmon, County Wexford. Ryan was the youngest of six sisters and five brothers. They were a nationalist family who "played an important role in revolutionary politics and helped shape the new Free State." Their home was used as a headquarters in the War of Independence. Her brother, James Ryan was an Irish Volunteer who became a senior Fianna Fáil Minister. Ryan and her sisters were involved in Cumann na mBan, two of whom were arrested and imprisoned after the Easter Rising. The Ryan sisters also attempted to get the British army to stop firing on Red Cross locations. In the lead up to the events she and her sisters had acted as cover for the men meeting up, accompanying them to make it look like they were out with their girlfriends.

Between 1919 and 1921, during the War of Independence she divided her time between her work as a chemist and her political and military activities. Ryan was a member of, and at one point a captain in, Cumann na mBan. She managed to escape arrest and worked with the organisations supporting those who did get arrested.

When the Irish Civil War began, Ryan agreed with the anti-Treaty side. She wrote to her sister Min severing ties with herself and her husband Richard Mulcahy, a general in the Free State army, for the duration. Eventually Ryan was the public analyst for 12 county councils. For many years she was the only female public analyst in Ireland.

Her husband served two terms as President of Ireland before retiring in 1959, at which point the couple moved to Roundwood, County Wicklow. O'Kelly died in 1966. Ryan died on 19 November 1983 aged 88 in Our Lady's Hospice at Harold's Cross, Dublin. They are both buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.

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