Marie Mulready (b. 1932)

Track 1: Marie Mulready describes her paternal background, explaining that the family came from Harold’s Cross Road in Dublin and that her grandfather, Thomas O’Connor, and her father, Peter O’Connor, were both in the GPO in Easter Week 1916. The aftermath, as it affected the O’Connor family, is also described. Track 2: Former archivist at Kilmainham Jail, Niamh O’Sullivan, assists Marie Mulready in describing the bombing of the Four Courts in 1922. Marie recalls the character of her grandmother and her republican ideals, gleaned from her father’s stories. Track 3: Marie Mulready had ten siblings, and her childhood, living over the family grocery shop in Harold’s Cross, is described, as is her education, through Irish, along with some of her siblings. A copy of her father’s application for a State pension is displayed and its details are described. Track 4: Peter O’Connor’s involvement in the restoration of Kilmainham Jail, and the effect on him of the old building, is described by his daughter. Marie’s uncle, Jimmy Connolly, was recorded by Marie’s late brother, Tom O’Connor, as Jimmy discussed his eyewitness account of the Rising in Dublin. Part of this recording is included in this track. Track 5: Marie Mulready gives her views on her father’s involvement in the Rising as a 16 year old youth, and explains that an original copy of the 1916 Proclamation, together with her father’s rifle, were held in the O’Connor family home for many years. Tracks 6-7: Excerpts from a letter written by Marie’s father to his mother while he was in captivity in Hare Park at the Curragh in 1923 are read. The O’Connor family military medals are discussed and examined by Niamh O’Sullivan, former archivist at Kilmainham Jail.