Edith Maud (Gonne) MacBride (1866 - 1953)

Maud Gonne MacBride was an English-born Irish revolutionary, feminist and actress. She led the Inghinidhe na hÉireann - Daughters of Ireland, which was a radical Irish nationalist women's organisation, from 1900 to 1914. She is best remembered by many for her relationship with poet William Butler Yeats. She was the mother to Nobel Peace Prize winner Seán MacBride, and she is often referred to as ^[1] Ireland's Joan of Arc.

Biography

Maud (Gonne) MacBride was a part of the Suffragette Movement.

Edith Gonne was born at Tongham near Farnham, Surrey,her parents were Captain Thomas Gonne and Edith Frith Gonne Cook she was called Maude as a child. Maud's mother died while was still a child and her father sent her to a boarding school in France to be educated.

Maud Gonne's father died of typhoid fever in 1884,and she received a large inheritance. Maude moved to France to be with her aunt,where she met and fell in love with politician Lucien Millevoye who was already married.At this time she began a lifelong fight for Ireland's freedom from England and the release of political prisoners. This is when she first met William Butler Yeats, who fell in love with her.

Maude Gonne was known to hold special receptions for children because of her opposition of the attempts of the British to gain the loyalty of the young Irish during the early 1900s. In her autobiography she wrote: I have always hated war and am by nature and philosophy a pacifist, but it is the English who are forcing war on us, and the first principle of war is to kill the enemy.

Maude along with William Butler Yeats and Arthur Griffith,^[2] organised protests against Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897 . On Easter 1900, she founded Inghinidhe na hÉireann (Daughters of Ireland), a revolutionary women's society^[3]. In April 1902, she had the lead role in Yeats's play Cathleen Ní Houlihan.

In 1900 she also joined the Roman Catholic Church.^[4]She refused many marriage proposals from William Yeats; when Yeats told her he was not happy without her she replied, Oh yes, you are, because you make beautiful poetry out of what you call your unhappiness and are happy in that. Marriage would be such a dull affair. Poets should never marry. The world should thank me for not marrying you.

Maud married Major John MacBride in Paris in 1903 after having turned down many marriage proposals from Yeats between 1891 and 1901. They had a son Seán MacBride. When the marriage ended the following year, Maude made many allegations against her husband, including domestic violence. The divorce case began in Paris. The only charge that could be established against her husband was that he was drunk on one occasion during the marriage. Because the charges could not be proven, Maude did not receive her divorce and John MacBride recieved visiting rights to see his son twice a week at his wife's home. He saw his son on a few occasions but decided to return to Ireland and never saw his son again. Maude's husband John MacBride and James Connolly were executed in May 1916 along with other leaders of the Easter Rising. William Yeats proposed to Maude again after her husband's death in 1916, and she once again she turned him down. She lived in Paris until 1917; once her husband was executed she felt she could safely return to Ireland.

In 1918, she was arrested in Dublin and imprisoned in England for six months during the ^[5]War of Independence for being a political agitator. She became severely ill in prison and after her release, she began a crusade for improved conditions for Ireland's political prisoners, she worked with the^[6]Irish White Cross for the relief of victims of violence. In 1921, she opposed the Anglo Irish Treaty (the Treaty between Great Britain and Ireland) Maude moved to Dublin in 1922.

Maud Gonne MacBride published her^[7] autobiography in 1938, titled A Servant of the Queen a reference of the Irish queen of old, Cathleen (or Caitlin) Ní Houlihan an odd title considering Maude Gonne's Irish beleif's and her rejection of the British monarchy. In 1974 her son Seán MacBride, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize he was active in politics in Ireland and the United Nations. . She died in 1953 in Clonskeagh^[8] Clonskeagh,^[9] she was 86 years old and is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin.

William Yeats's wrote many poems about Maude Gonne such as This, This Rude Knocking. He wrote the plays The Countess Cathleen and Cathleen Ní Houlihan for her. His poem Aedh wishes for the Cloths of Heaven ends with a reference to her:

I have spread my dreams under your feet

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

From William Yeats second book to Last Poems Maude Gonne was the Rose, Helen of Troy (in No second Troy), the Ledaean Body (Leda and the Swan and Among School Children), Cathleen Ní Houlihan, Pallas Athene and Deirdre.

Why should I blame her that she filled my days

With misery, or that she would of late

Have taught to ignorant men most violent ways

Or hurled the little streets upon the great.

from No second Troy, 1916

Please see this page on Irish Suffragettes for more information.

Sources

1. ↑ The New York Times (archived webpage) - Article review arrival of Maude Gonne in America -IRELAND'S "JOAN OF ARC" Arrival of Miss Maude Gonne, Who Is to Lecture on the "Days of '98."
2. ↑ Encyclopedia Britannica - Maude Goone Irish Patriot
3. ↑ Google Books - Gender and Sexuality in Modern Ireland edited by Anthony Bradley, Maryann Gialanella Valiulis - Maude Goone and Irish Nationalist Theater
4. ↑ The Independent - William Butler Yeats and Maude MacBride
5. ↑ Eamon an Chnoic - Maud Gonne was vital in Ireland's War of Independence she is often referred to as Ireland's Joan of Arc
6. ↑ Irish Volunteers.org - Maud Gonne Political activity
7. ↑ Google Books - The Autobiography of Maud Gonne - A Servant of the Queen
8. ↑ Irish Civil Records:Death of MAUD McBRIDE in 1954 Group Registration ID 2580631 SR District/Reg Area Rathdown Deceased Age at Death 86[1]
9. ↑ Irish Photo Archive - Two photos of Maud Gonne McBride's Funeral

• "England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VBFD-HZ7 : 12 December 2017), Edith M Gonne in entry for Augusta Tarlton, 1871.
• "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q276-Y1JF : 12 December 2017), Edith M Gonne in household of Margaret Wilson, Tormoham With Torquay, Devon, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 23, Piece/Folio 2169/76, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,769.
• Find A Grave: Memorial #5746941

• Bio - Gonne, Maud (1866–1953)
• AOH - Maude Gonne McBride
• Your Dictionary
• Irelandseye.com - Maude Gonne MacBride 1865-1953 Revolutionary
• Glasnevin Cemetery Musuem
• Wikipedia Maude Gonne
• RTE Archives - Maud Gonne's Advice For Irish Women 1949
• Museum of Mayo - Portrait of Maud Gonne MacBride 1896

Death record Maud McBride 1953