Maud Mitchell
Mitchell, Maud (1891-1972), was an Irish female republican figure, and author. Dubbed “a woman of substance” by the ‘Westmeath Independent’ in the decades following her death, she has been credited with playing a stand-out role in traditional, Irish republican feminism during the Irish Revolutionary Period. An enthusiastic voluntary organiser, Maud Mitchell was appointed as Cumann na nBan’s first Captain in the Midlands, and apparently became Intelligence Officer of the First Cork Brigade of the IRA. As described in contemporary sources, Maud, having first served as the first Captain of Cumann na mBán in the Midlands, would seemingly become chairperson of the Cork District Council of Cumann na mBan (having served as chairperson of the Bishopstown branch), and also possibly served on the organisation’s national council.
Born Margaret ‘Maud’ Mulvihill on 16 July 1891, in Coosan, to Martin and Eliza Mulvihill (née Benson, of a Huguenot background). Though he was a Roman Catholic, Martin was a large farmer, and was believed to be comfortable.
Maud was a sister to the well-documented Titanic survivor, Bertha Mulvihill. Onboard the ‘Carpathia’ in the aftermath of the sinking, Bertha wrote a letter to Maud, telling her that she was “fine and dandy.” This letter has since appeared in several books about the tragedy. Bertha would become a notable figure in Titanic history, also raising money for a memorial in the USA. Her older brother was a teacher at the Marist Brothers School. Among his most famous pupils included the tenor, John McCormack (a neighbour), and Bishop Curley. She was influenced by her uncle, Aden, who was involved in Fenian and Whiteboy activities. Her mother was also a sworn member of the Fenians. Maud’s was known to be a contentious Fenian, who found himself rubbing up against the authorities the wrong way on several occasions, and this likely served as an influence on her.
As a young child, she played hurling with her father and brother during the Gaelic Revival. Maud was both artistic and athletic, winning first prizes at arts competitions at Westmeath Agricultural Show, and played for the Athlone camogie team. She claimed that, on one occasion, a priest by the name of Fr. Dardis came to her school one day in order to suppress the game. She piped up in reply to his lecture, noting that he did not object to ladies playing hockey with the soldiers. Her parents also did not buy her any of the prescribed history books, as she often claimed that they were “written for British schoolchildren.”
She moved to nearby Athlone, when her parents bought another house to accommodate the older family members. A staunch Roman Catholic, she became an active and energetic member of the Third Order of St. Francis (an international Catholic lay organisation) there. It was during this time that she seized the opportunity to join the local Irish classes run by the Gaelic League. Her first Irish classes were from a book by Fr. O’Growney.
During the period of 1912-1913, she was a member of a dramatic class, and this served as a means to raise money for Fianna Éireann. Maud appeared in several productions of ‘Robert Emmet,’ ‘The West’s Awake,’ and ‘The Fanbellows.’ Becoming known as an actress in the country, ‘Robert Emmet,’ she played Sarah Curran, with the ‘Westmeath Independent’ describing her performance as “natural and affecting.” In another play, called ‘The Drone,’ set in 19th century Ulster in a period of industrial expansion, she played Sarah McMinn, a main character. She was a close friend of the renowned left-wing Irish republican, and later TD, Liam Mellows, and helped him to organise in the Midlands.
As an organiser for Clan Uisneagh, she frequently entertained Alice Stopford Green, The O’Rahilly, Francis Bigger and Patrick H. Pearse. Following a rehearsal of a play, at which senior Clan Uisneagh members were present, a young Maud asked; “why not organise Men’s Scouts?” This was said to be a spark that burst into a flame. The man who played one of the lead roles of the play was an apprentice at the Athlone Printing Works, and, through him, she inserted a print-out organising a meeting of the Piper’s Club in the ‘Westmeath Independent.’ Following this initially successful meeting, she organised a parade to march through Athlone the following week, in August 1913. Over 400 people attended this particular meeting. After this, a Constitution was drafted, the principle of which was “Self-Reliance.” The next week, a torch light procession attracted several hundred more people. It was not long before it caught the attention of the leaders of organisations such as Clan Uisneagh and the IRB. The Irish Volunteers was launched not long later.
Although it is probably not plausible to say that she was slowly responsible for coming up with the idea of the Volunteers, it cannot be denied that she was one of a few people who planted the notion in nationalist circles at a national level. Drilling took place at the Fair green in Athlone. Afterwards, she was the first Captain of Cumann na mBan in the Midlands, formed not long later. In the early months of 1915, before she was married to future IRA Commandant and O.C of the renowned Cork No.1 Brigade, Herbert James Mitchell, he had missed parades on a frequent basis. On one occasion, when he was on parade, Liam Mellows excused him by saying that “love and war go hand in hand.”
Although Maud looked with disappointment on the ultimate failure that was the 1916 Rising in Co. Westmeath, she optimistically focused on the future, claiming that “every man, woman, child and dog was in the Movement.”
She moved to Cork city in Easter 1917, where, unusually for a female, she would become an Intelligence Officer for the IRA in Terence MacSwiney’s and Tomas MacCurtain’s First Cork Brigade. Her husband would subsequently become one of the most prominent IRA Commandants in the country. She was a member of the IRA’s ‘Club 56.’ Maud operated in secrecy and in her own words; “we made our pledge.” At a later period, as per an article, is believed to have served as chairperson of the Cork District Council of CnaB, which had a network of branches across the city and county, comprised of a large body of regional members (she originally served as chairperson of the Bishopstown branch). From the mid-1920s onwards, they were known colloquially as the “die-hards.” However, she expressed shock and disdain at the assassination of pro-Treaty leader, Michael Collins, at an Anti-Treatyite faction event. One of her children, Margaret, died as an infant on 28 July, 1933.
Mitchell passed away on 26 January 1972 in Co. Cork. The Munster Agricultural Society’s (MAS) Maud Mitchell Perpetual Trophy for Best Flower Exhibit at Cork Summer Show is named after her. Likewise, Mitchell’s Court, a luxury housing development built in the suburbs of Cork city during the 2000s, is also named after her. Her memoir, titled ‘The Man with the Long Hair,’ was published posthumously, twenty-one years after her death, in 1993. Based on her memory, it documents a period up to the mid-1920s. It was penned on reams of notes during her early 80s. This is perhaps attributed to her wish:
“What I write is the truth - do nothing about it until I am dead.”
Maud also opined that a key aspect of the revolution, in her view, was to deal with issues pertaining to economic development and social justice, and how the lack of social security and widespread poverty in Ireland was a key element, and was something that had to be rectified.
The ‘Westmeath Independent’ described her memoir as “refreshing because the feminist movement was never so powerful as it was” during the Irish revolutionary era. According to the newspaper, a battle for film rights to the book existed following its publication. A copy of the book is also stored in the National Library of Ireland (NLI). It is primarily anecdotal during a restricted period, with only passing reference to her husband.
A Summer 2024 edition of the ‘Journal of the Blarney & District Historical Society’ revealed that Maud’s younger brother, Brian Mulvihill, had similarly moved to Co. Cork, and was also involved in ‘the struggle.’ In 1900, Bernard Brian Mulvihill was born in Coosan, County Westmeath. He was known by his middle name. It is somewhat unclear precisely why he relocated to Co. Cork shortly before May 1921, but when he was incarcerated at the old Cork Gaol, he provided his residence as Rathpeacon, Co. Cork (later incorporated into Cork City, circa 2019). He carried a somewhat anonymous presence, and was not included in any of the nearby battalions' I.R.A. Company rolls.
He may have been 'on the run,’ from somewhere else within the country, and likely harboured by his sister for a time. Upon receiving a prison sentence of 15 years penal servitude for his IRA activities, he was sent to Spike Island, and finally on November 18th of that year, to the Kilkenny Gaol. Soon after a mass escape, he was captured again and, from November 30, 1921, he lay at Waterford Gaol. However, he was released from this jail on 12 January 1922. In 1930, he wed Anne Mara in Athlone, Co. Westmeath, and later stated that he had worked and lived in Co. Sligo.
The Mulvhills remained very active in supporting the IRA locally in Co. Westmeath and Co. Offaly, and the family farmhouse doubled as a safe-house for Republicans.
In 2021, the ‘Westmeath Independent’ opined that:
“Maud is an unsung hero of the Republican movement; someone who operated in secrecy and humility. In her own words: ‘we made our pledge.’ Perhaps, in a time where so many have lost so much, we ought to look back to those who willingly sacrificed all the fine things and comforts that life had to offer in pursuit of an idea. Coosan’s Maud Mitchell is definitely one of them.”
It is also believed, through a small number of articles on the subject , that Maud was distantly related to the former 42nd Governor of New York State, and 1928 Democratic Party candidate for U.S President (the first Catholic on the ticket for such), Al Smith. His mother, Catherine Mulvihill, and his grandmother, also originated from Co. Westmeath, and Smith visited their relatives during the 1930s.
Maud Mitchell is depicted in a film on Cumann na mBán’s intelligence gathering and political organising, produced and released by Cork City Council, in early 2024. She is played by actress Síomha Marron. The movie featured on the film festival circuit in the USA, and was popular amongst the Irish-American community. Her memory is also preserved by Clann Mulvihill, the Irish-American fraternal organisation. In 2013, the ‘Mulvihill Voice,’ an publication of the organisation, stated that she was “considered a remarkable woman and was an esteemed author.”
References:
‘A Night She'd Remember: My Grandmother's Experience on the Titanic’ (2021)
Behe, George. ‘On Board RMS Titanic: Memories of the Maiden Voyage,’ The History Press (2012)
Bibliography - Chronology of Irish History 1919 - 1923
Burke, John. ‘Athlone 1900-1923: Politics, Revolution & Civil War,’ The History Press (2015)
Cork Examiner 29/7/1933
Cork Examiner 26/1/1973
Cork Examiner 31/7/1993
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Irish Publishing Record, Irish University Press (1993)
Lee Valley Outlook, in passim
Mayo, Jonathan. ‘Titanic: Minute by Minute,’ Hachette UK (2016)
Mitchell, Maud. ’The Man with the Long Hair,’ Glenwood Publications (1993)
Molony, Senan. ‘The Irish Aboard Titanic,’ Wolfhound Press (2000)
‘Old Blarney - Journal of the Blarney Historical Society’ (2024)
O’Brien, Gearoid - ‘Athlone in Old Photographs.’ Gill & MacMillan (2002)
Ó Ruairc, Pádraig Óg. ‘“The women who died for Ireland” – Cumann na mBan fatalities in the War of Independence & Civil War,’ - The Irish Story, 1/2/2019
‘Forgotten Links Between Leading CnaB Organiser and U.S Governor Remembered’ medium.com (2023)
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Westmeath Independent 20/3/1915
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Westmeath Independent, in passim (2021-2023)
Offaly Independent, in passim (2021-2023){{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Maud}}}
