Lily O'Brennan

Elizabeth ‘Lily’ O'Brennan (20 August 1878 – 31 May 1948), was an Irish republican, writer and playwright.^[1]

Elizabeth ‘Lily’ O'Brennan
Born	Elizabeth Mary Brennan (1878-08-20)20 August 1878 Dublin, Ireland
Died	31 May 1948(1948-05-31) (aged 69) Dublin, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Other names	Lily O'Brennan
Organization	Cumann na mBan
Relatives	Áine O'Brennan (sister) Kathleen O'Brennan (sister) Éamonn Ceannt(brother in law)

Background

O'Brennan was born in Summer Street, Dublin, the third daughter of Francis Brennan, auctioneer, and Elizabeth Anne Butler.^[2] They were a nationalist family and later added the 'O' prefix to their name. Her sister Áine O'Brennan married Éamonn Ceannt, and her other sister Kathleen O'Brennan became a playwright and journalist. Her father died in 1880, her mother in 1930.^[3][4][5][6]

O'Brennan became a teacher and contributed to both Irish and American periodicals. She wrote a play, May Eve in Stephen's Green, produced with Máire Nic Shiubhlaigh and performed in Father Mathew Hall, Church Street, Dublin in 1912; it was inspired by a statue of James Clarence Mangan in St Stephen's Green. The play got good reviews.^[7]

Nationalism

O'Brennan attended the inaugural meeting of Cumann na mBan, held in Wynn's Hotel, Dublin, and was a member of its central branch. When Cumann na mBan split due to the start of World War I the O'Brennan's sided against the proposal to volunteer with the British. Both sisters were involved in planning for the Easter Rising. O'Brennan bought the makings of the flag for the 4th Battalion of the Irish Volunteers and made the first aid kits. She and her sister, Áine Ceannt, helped to assemble equipment and she carried dispatches for Éamonn Ceannt, her brother-in-law. Like many she only discovered the mobilisation was going ahead the night before it happened.^{[7][8][9][10]}

O'Brennan was stationed in the Marrowbone Lane distillery under the command of Con Colbert and remained there all week.^[7] She was arrested with the garrison there and held at Richmond Barracks and Kilmainham Gaol. The day she was released was the day her brother-in-law was executed, 8 May 1916. O'Brennan worked as a clerk for the National Aid Association later the Prisoner's Dependents Fund as well as locating and marking the graves of those killed during the Rising.^{[11][8][12][13]}

After the Rising, in late 1917, O'Brennan joined the executive of Cumann na mBan, she was also a member of the Sinn Féin executive.^[14] In 1918 she recruited new members throughout Longford and Wicklow. O'Brennan was one of the two delegation secretaries for the 1921 treaty delegation.^[15] Mary MacSwiney proposed O'Brennan to be appointed as a plenipotentiary to the negotiations but she was thought to be "too extreme".^[16] She lived in 22 Hans Place, Brompton, London and worked for Arthur Griffith as his secretary for a time in 1922. Despite being part of the Treaty group, O'Brennan was on the Anti-treaty side during the Civil War. She worked on the staff of the Republican headquarters, secretary to Erskine Childers. She was arrested there in November 1922 and imprisoned in Mountjoy Prison, then moved to Kilmainham on 6 February 1923 where she spent three months. It was there she organised the 7th anniversary commemoration of the Easter Rising. In May 1923 she was sent to the North Dublin Union, where she took part in a failed escape attempt. She was however released only a few weeks later.^{[7][17][18][19][8]}

O'Brennan wrote a novel, using the pseudonym ‘Esther Graham’, entitled The call to arms: a tale of the land league (1929). She was a founder member of the Catholic Writers Guild in 1947.^[20]

O'Brennan lived in Churchtown, Dundrum, County Dublin. She died on 31 May 1948 and was buried in the Deansgrange cemetery.^[7][8] Her papers are in the University College Dublin Archives.^[21][22]

Further reading

• "Women in Intelligence – Part 1: Annie Mary Smith née Brennan". Military Service (1916-1923) Pensions Collection. 15 June 2018.
• "Witness Mrs. McCarvill (Eileen McGrane)" (PDF). Bureau of Military history.
• "Witness Miss Brighid O'Mullane" (PDF). Bureau of Military history.
• "Witness Aine Bean E. Ceannt" (PDF). Bureau of Military history.
• "Witness Brighid, Bean Ui Mhairtin (Ni Fhoghludha)" (PDF). Bureau of Military history.
• "Witness Robert C. Barton" (PDF). Bureau of Military history.
• "Witness Miss Moira Kennedy O'Byrne" (PDF). Bureau of Military history.
• "Witness Miss Bridie O'Reilly" (PDF). Bureau of Military history.
• "Witness Eilis, Bean Ul Chonaill (Nl Riain)" (PDF). Bureau of Military history.
• "Witness Dr. Nancy Wyse-Power" (PDF). Bureau of Military history.

References and sources

1. "Revolutionary wives: author Sinéad McCoole on discovering the stories behind the 1916 widows".
2. "Irish Genealogy" (PDF). civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie.
3. "Irish Genealogy" (PDF). civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie.
4. "National Archives: Census of Ireland 1911". www.census.nationalarchives.ie.
5. "National Archives: Census of Ireland 1911". www.census.nationalarchives.ie.
6. "Context: Letter from Cumann na mBan to Lily O'Brennan..." catalogue.nli.ie. 1930.
7. "O'Brennan, Elizabeth ('Lily'), The Dictionary of Irish Biography".
8. "The Men & Women of 1916: The Rebels Part 2 | Century Ireland". www.rte.ie.
9. "'Voices of the Rising', an NLI podcast series - DHR Communications". DHR Communications. 29 April 2016. Archived from the original on 13 August 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
10. Cal McCarthy (3 April 2007). Cumann na mBan and the Irish Revolution. Collins Press. pp. 98–. ISBN 978-1-84889-860-8.
11. "Lily O'Brennan – Women of the Easter Rising #1916 Easter Rising". Stair na hÉireann/History of Ireland. 22 January 2016.
12. "The Women Detained at Richmond Barracks". Richmond Barracks. 16 April 2015. Archived from the original on 3 January 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
13. David T. Gleeson (16 November 2012). The Irish in the Atlantic World. University of South Carolina Press. pp. 229–. ISBN 978-1-61117-220-1.
14. Archives, The National. "The Discovery Service". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk.
15. McCoole, Sinéad, (2003), No Ordinary Women: Irish Female Activists in the Revolutionary Years, 1900–1923, The University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, WI, p. 104
16. McCoole, pg 85
17. Ann Matthews (2010). Renegades: Irish Republican Women 1900-1922. Mercier Press Ltd. pp. 260–. ISBN 978-1-85635-684-8.
18. Bernard A. Cook (2006). Women and War: A Historical Encyclopedia from Antiquity to the Present. ABC-CLIO. pp. 313–. ISBN 978-1-85109-770-8.
19. "Truce July 1921 - General Michael Collins". www.generalmichaelcollins.com.
20. "O'Brennan, Elizabeth ('Lily') | Dictionary of Irish Biography". www.dib.ie. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
21. "Collection - UCD Archives". www.ucd.ie.
22. Keith D. M. Snell (2 March 2017). The Bibliography of Regional Fiction in Britain and Ireland, 1800–2000. Taylor & Francis. pp. 460–. ISBN 978-1-351-89401-2.