Customer Reviews

Grace Gifford Plunkett and Irish Freedom: Tragic Bride of 1916 (Women in Irish History Series)

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It is fitting that I first became aware of the tragic story of Grace Gifford Plunkett (1888-1955) when hearing the song "Grace" sung at an Irish pub in Savannah, GA called "Kevin Barry's." The pub was named for the Irish teenager and medical student who was executed by the British in 1920 and became a national hero. In fact, On the day of his execution, scores of his fellow students at all the Irish Universities joined the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

I listened to the song "Grace" with tears in my eyes as her tragic story was revealed. As the fiancée of Joseph Mary Plunkett, a member of the IRA and one of the heroes of the 1916 Irish Rising, she married him just hours before he was executed. I couldn't get the haunting melody and lyrics out of my mind. The chorus goes, "Grace, just hold me in your arms and let this moment linger, For they take me out at dawn and I will die. With all my love, I place this wedding ring upon your finger, we won't have time to share our love for we must say goodbye." I had tears streaming down my face by the time the song was over.

When I returned to Washington state, I couldn't wait to find out more about Grace. I was so glad to find this book of Marie O'Neill's which tells Grace's story. It's a short book, but packed full of details of Grace's life. It's illustrated with Grace's own cartoons. O'Neill interviewed people who had known Grace including nieces who shared many personal stories of their aunt.

This book is recommended for anyone who would like more details of the 1916 Rising, told in a very personal way.

By the light of two guttering candles in Kilmainham Gaol's Roman Catholic chapel, Grace Gifford married her fiance Joseph Mary Plunkett hours before his execution by firing squad. In doing so, Grace became forever linked with Ireland's struggle for independence, because her husband was one of the signatories of the Proclamation of Independence. So begins Marie O'Neill's biography of the woman who "became a powerful symbolic figure of the republican ideal for which her husband had given his life."

Twenty-eight-year old Grace, the daughter of a Dublin solicitor, was second youngest in a family of twelve children. Born into a prosperous home, Grace and her siblings were surrounded with comforts, a wide circle of friends, and educational opportunities. Grace, a gifted artist, chose to study at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art, then continued her studies in London, and finally returning to Dublin to begin a career as a caricaturist. A chance meeting with an Irish journalist in London introduced grace and her sisters to a broadening circle of friends, including the poet and painter known as AE, William Butler Yeats, Constance Markievicz, and Maude Gonne. The opening of St. Enda's brought them in contact with the future leaders of 1916.

Raised a Protestant, Grace's increasing interest in her father's faith also led to a deepening friendship with Joseph Plunkett, whom she met at St. Enda's in late 1914 or early 1915. By winter 1915, the couple was secretly engaged and planned an Easter wedding following Grace's baptism into the Catholic faith. Through the War of Independence and the Civil War, Grace barely made ends meet. A lifelong Republican, Grace was never a member of Cumann na mBan, the women's auxiliary organization that worked to support the Volunteers. Still, she was arrested and served time in Kilmainham Gaol, along with other Republican women. After her release, Grace, who remained a widow for the rest of her life, struggled to make a living from her art. Many times she was reduced to poverty, and life only became easier after Eamon deValera and his party came into power and she received a civil list pension.

Grace continued to draw, and her cartoons showed an incisive wit. Quiet and moody, she remained in Dublin, working until her health began to fail. She died in 1955, presumably from heart failure. She was accorded a funeral with full military honors.

O'Neill's biography is a sensitive portrayal of a little known woman in a generation of extraordinary Irish men and women. Her history is important so the world can remember Grace Gifford Plunkett, a quiet woman whose immense talent and charm make her more than simply the "tragic bride of 1916."

Being a bit of a romantic, I was very curious about a woman who would marry a man the night before his execution. I wanted a number of questions answered: Why did she do it? Did she ever re-marry? What was life like for her after his death?

The author does an excellent job of reporting the facts and offering opinions on how events in Grace Gifford Plunkett's life shaped who she was. After reading the book, I could answer all three questions, and the book satisfies at that level. Ms. O'Neill puts her subject in the context of the times, and she explains what is going on in Ireland at the time the events occur. In other words, the reader does not need to be intimately familiar with 20th century Irish history to enjoy this book. Grace Plunkett supported herself as an artist, and the author has the good sense to include these drawings in an attempt for the reader to understand the subject.

Again, I am a bit of a romantic. The love story of Joseph Mary Plunkett and Grace Gifford never came alive to me during the book. Their story inspired the beautiful Irish ballad, "Grace," about that fateful night of the execution. Ms. O'Neill quotes from their love letters, and one sensed she could not get some important sources about this aspect of Grace Gifford Plunkett's life. After all, his death did occur 84 years ago.

Nevertheless, the book is a good read, and it would probably make a decent, watchable movie.