Margaret Buckley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President of Sinn Féin | |
| In office 1937–1950 | |
| Preceded by | Cathal Ó Murchadha |
| Succeeded by | Paddy McLogan |
| Vice President of Sinn Féin | |
| In office 1933–1937 | |
| In office 1952–1960 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 26 July 1879[1] Cork, Ireland |
| Died | 24 July 1962 (aged 82–83) |
| Resting place | St. Finbarr's Cemetery,Cork, Ireland |
| Political party | Sinn Féin |
Margaret Buckley (néeGoulding;Irish:Maighréad Ní Ghabhláin Uí Bhuachalla; July 1879 – 24 July 1962) was anIrish republican andpresident of Sinn Féin from 1937 to 1950. She was the first female leader of Sinn Féin and was the first Irishwoman to lead a political party.
Born inCork, the daughter of James Goulding and Ellen Foyle, Margaret joinedInghinidhe na hÉireann, which was founded in 1900, taking an active role in the women's movement. She was involved in anti-British royal visit protests in 1903 and 1907 and was among the group that founded An Dún in Cork in 1910. In 1906, she married Patrick Buckley, described as "a typical rugby-playing British civil servant". After his death she moved into a house in Marguerite Road,Glasnevin,Dublin. Later, she returned to Cork to care for her elderly father.[2][3]
Arrested in the aftermath ofEaster Rising she was released in the amnesty of June 1917 and played a prominent role in the reorganisation ofSinn Féin. She was involved in theWar of Independence in Cork.[4]
After the death of her father, she returned to Dublin. In 1920, she became aDáil Court (also known as Republican Courts) judge in the North city circuit, appointed byAustin Stack, theMinister for Home Affairs of theIrish Republic.[citation needed]
She opposed theAnglo-Irish Treaty and was interned inMountjoy andKilmainham, where she went on ahunger strike.[4] She was released in October 1923.[4] During her imprisonment, she was electedOfficer Commanding (OC) of the republican prisoners in Mountjoy,Quartermaster (QM) in the North Dublin Union and OC of B-Wing in Kilmainham. She was an active member of theWomen Prisoners' Defence League, founded byMaud Gonne andCharlotte Despard in 1922.[citation needed]
In 1929, she served as a member ofComhairle na Poblachta which unsuccessfully attempted to resolve the differences between Sinn Féin and theIrish Republican Army.[citation needed]
Buckley was also an organiser for theIrish Women Workers' Union.[citation needed]
At the October 1934 Sinn Féin ardfheis, she was elected one of the party's vice-presidents. Three years later in 1937 she succeededCathal Ó Murchadha who was a formerTD of the secondDáil Éireann as President of Sinn Féin,[4] at an ardfheis attended by only forty delegates, making her the first Irishwoman to lead a political party.
When she assumed the leadership of Sinn Féin, the party was not supported by theIrish Republican Army (IRA), which had severed its links with the party in 1925. When she left the office in 1950, relations with the IRA had been resolved. As President she began the lawsuitBuckley v. Attorney-General, theSinn Féin Funds case, in which the party sought unsuccessfully to be recognised as owners of money raised by Sinn Féin before 1922 and held in trust in theHigh Court since 1924.[2]
In 1938, she published her bookThe Jangle of the Keys about the experiences of Irish Republican women prisoners interned by theIrish Free State. In 1956, her bookShort History of Sinn Féin was published.
She was active in the cause of Sinn Féin well into her late seventies.[5] She served as honorary vice-president ofSinn Féin from 1950 until her death in 1962. She was the only member of the ardchomairle of the party not to be arrested during a police raid in July 1957.
She died on 24 July 1962 and is buried inSt. Finbarr's Cemetery, Cork.[2][3]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Vice President ofSinn Féin 1933–1935? | Succeeded by ? |
| Preceded by | President of Sinn Féin 1937–1950 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Criostóir O'Neill | Vice President ofSinn Féin 1950–1952 With:Michael Traynor | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Vice President ofSinn Féin 1954–1960 With:Tomás Ó Dubhghaill | Succeeded by |