Unlikely Rebels

by Anne Clare

  Apart from being the youngest and the only brown-haired member of the family, it became obvious from the reactions of those who met her that ‘John’ was the most volatile of the sisters, Ada perhaps excepted. Though she had her father’s sense of fun, coupled with a gift of mimicry, her reactions to others varied between charming approval and somewhat contemptuous dismissiveness. A letter she wrote to a friend, still extant, could be termed gushing, yet her niece Maeve did not speak much of her and indeed seemed to treat her rather distantly, confessing that she and ‘John’s’ son, Finian, opted out of conversations between their mothers, because the talk was almost invariably political. Kate had considered sharing accommodation with her youngest sister, but it was felt that ‘John’s’ artistic friends and irregular hours would not make them suitable housemates.

  The charming portrait of ‘John’ and Grace in early childhood had not been a harbinger of a close relationship in later years between the two. The distinctions made by the Plunkett ladies of charming Kate and Muriel, and ‘John’ and Grace of ‘sharp’ wit did not allow for the fact that Grace was quieter than her younger sister, losing contact with the more prominent women of the movement. ‘John’ was socialising with Helena Molony, Máire Perolz and Kathleen Lynn, but Grace’s friends, like the Burkes and the Kellys, were not in that category.

  In fact, ‘John’s’ contacts over the years were less with family than with artistic people and old friends from political affiliations. Jimmy O’Dea produced some of her plays, and she was pictured with two celebrity comedians: Noel Purcell, who captured our childhood hearts as the pantomime ‘Dame’ (‘Oh no, he didn’t; oh yes, he did’) and none other than Stan Laurel when he and Oliver Hardy played in the Olympia Theatre, Dublin, in the 1950s. She was a regular visitor to Maud Gonne MacBride’s house, where she played the planchette board with Maud and her daughter Iseult. Helena Molony was another ‘old faithful’ from the troubled times who remained a friend. ‘John’ also remained close to Kathleen Lynn, and she and Finian stayed with Dr Lynn during one of their residential problem periods before they bought the house – in Finian’s name – at Chester Road, Ranelagh, the final address for both of them.

  Apart from appearing to have inherited her father’s sense of humour and aside from whatever influence Bridget might have had, ‘John’ herself recalled that her father, though a unionist, felt chagrined to see Irish Catholic peasants doff their caps to the landlords who had acquired, by conquest, their forebears’ land. Like Nellie in County Meath, Frederick’s work brought him face to face with all that was socially wrong in Ireland.

  A more assertive personality than either Kate, Grace, or Nellie, ‘John’ can be seen to have inherited much of her mother’s nature, though she, too, in The Years Flew By, conveys, however tentatively, Nellie’s more outspoken reservations about Isabella’s lack of motherliness. This was somewhat at odds with the recollections of Maeve and Finian, who had good memories of their grandmother on their visits to her home.

  It took moral stamina for ‘John’, as it did for Nellie and Grace, to struggle through the years of economic difficulty. Her journalism reads today as pungently as for her then audience, the more extreme republicans. Gradually, apart from her own News and Views publication, her work found its way into more politically subdued channels, even finding acceptance in the conservative Irish Times.

  As well as writing about her beliefs, ‘John’ also passed on her views in person, both in the 1930s and 1950s, to obviously enraptured audiences of children in the various public libraries around Dublin. It made all the difference to hear Ireland’s history from someone who had been so close to its emerging freedom.

  She threw herself, wholeheartedly, into any cause she espoused and was involved in commemorative celebrations for both Maud Gonne MacBride and Dr Lynn. It has to be said that most of her causes, as well as being philanthropic, were also anti-British: she argued in an article in An Phoblacht that Ireland had shown India the way to freedom, and she marched with Maud Gonne MacBride, both of them carrying banners, with the 1932 Indian–Irish League; during the Second World War she was involved in homing about 400 German children in Ireland, to save them from British bombs.

  Her son Finian thought of her not only with affection but also with pride. He had lived with her in poverty as well as in better times, and both he and his Aunt Kate had helped her lack of economic worldliness.

  Sidney Gifford-Czira died on 15 September 1974, the last of the Temple Villas Giffords, a determined republican to the very end.[5]

  May they all rest in God’s peace, those with their pygmy army and also their mightier opponents from whom they wrestled Ireland’s long-sought freedom. Their entrances and exits, all of them – now a part of time.

  Notes

  [1]NGDPs.

  [2]The work of the late Una McDonnell Watters.

  [3]Robert Monks, Liam Ó Laoghaire Archives, National Museum.

  [4]NGDPs.

  [5]The material in this chapter derives, almost exclusively, from NGDPs and from an interview with Finian Czira.

  Appendix - Photos

  Isabella Burton Gifford, the mother of the Giffords.

  Helen Ruth (Nellie) Gifford, taken in early 1917.

  Ada Gifford.

  Catherine Anna (Kate) Gifford, the eldest of the sisters.

  Sidney Gifford, who was commonly known by her pen-name ‘John’, with her son Finian in 1917.

  Grace Gifford in the garden of Larkfield House, where she had been offered refuge by Countess Plunkett.

  Joseph Plunkett, one of the leaders of the 1916 rebellion and husband of Grace.

  Count and Countess Plunkett (seated in the back of the car), parents of Joseph Plunkett.

  Thomas MacDonagh, husband of Muriel, who was executed for his part in the 1916 rebellion.

  Muriel and Thomas MacDonagh, with their first-born, Donagh.

  Barbara and Donagh MacDonagh, left parentless after 1917.

  Grace (left) and Nellie with Nellie’s daughter Maeve.

  Gabriel Gifford, taken in America. On the back of the photograph he suggests that he looks like Winston Churchill.

  ‘John’ Gifford and Maud Gonne MacBride speaking on the radio in 1949.

  ‘John’ Gifford, Helena Molony and Dr Kathleen Lynn.

  ‘John’ Gifford telling the story of the republican movement to a young audience. Courtesy of The Irish Press.

  Acknowledgements

  I would like to express my sincere thanks to everyone who helped me with the writing of this book. To Maeve Donnelly for lending me the papers of her mother, Nellie Gifford-Donnelly.

  To Alan Hayes of Arlen house for his great help and support always. To Jim Larkin and Madeleine Cooke for their excellent research.

  To the staff of the National Library, Niamh O’Sullivan, archivist at Kilmainham Gaol, the staff of the Military Archives in Cathal Brugha barracks and the Gilbert Library, Sister Maria Consilio, librarian of St Mary’s Secondary School, Glasnevin, and the staff at Ballymun and Drumcondra local County Council libraries, the Mormon Family Archives, the Church of Ireland Records Office and Brian Crowley at St Enda’s Archives.

  My thanks also to Dr Jacinta Prunty, David Edwards of the Erasmus Smith Trust, Simon Kelliher BL, Dermot Bolger, Margaret Byrne, Maureen Kerr, Ann Ryder, Eithne Diggins, Greta Ó Lochlainn, Padraig Ó Baoghail, Dymphna Scott Murray, Frazia Scott Statham, Walter and Michael Scott, Robert Monks of the Liam Ó Laoghaire Archives, Father William King PP, Jonathan Williams, Peter and Margaret Brittain, and all the patient staff at Mercier Press.

  Thank you also to the staff at Beck n’ Call Secretarial Services, Bill, Patricia and Ann at Millmount Avenue Secretarial Services, Ann and Frances at Secretarial and Office Services, Br Tom of the O’Connell Schools Archives, and the staff of Reads in Nassau Street.

  Special thanks go to All Hallows College: Don Moroney, who opened its hospitable doors for me each summer; the resident community lecturers, especially the history lecturer Fr Jim McCor
mack; the library staff, especially Geraldine O’Flanagan and John Murphy; all the administrative staff, including Chris Bellingham, Frank Lanigan and Celine Cleary; Fr John Hannon and his Accord team who had offices in All Hallows; and Aisling O’Loughlin. Without All Hallows’ help this book would never have been finished.

  I would like to thank the following who gave their time willingly in interviews: Father Moore of Rialto, Finian Czira, the Kelly family – Eddie and Kieran and their niece Aoife Duffy – Eilís Dillon, Eoghan Plunkett, Colm Ó Laoghaire, Fr Dermot Brangan SJ, Molly Brohoon’s grandson John Murphy, Frank Cleary, Terry O’Neill, Seoirse Plunkett, Denis Sexton and the staff at Taylor de Vere’s Art Gallery.

  Finally I would like to thank all my family and friends who have put up with my asocial behaviour. Thank you for your patience and forebearance.

  We hope you enjoyed this book.

  Since 1944, Mercier Press has published books that have been critically important to Irish life and culture. Books that dealt with subjects that informed readers about Irish scholars, Irish writers, Irish history and Ireland’s rich heritage.

  We believe in the importance of providing accessible histories and cultural books for all readers and all who are interested in Irish cultural life.

  Our website is the best place to find out more information about Mercier, our books, authors, news and the best deals on a wide variety of books. Mercier tracks the best prices for our books online and we seek to offer the best value to our customers, offering free delivery within Ireland.

  Sign up on our website to receive updates and special offers.

  www.mercierpress.ie

  http://twitter.com/IrishPublisher

  http://www.facebook.com/mercier.press

  Mercier Press, Unit 3b, Oak House, Bessboro Rd, Blackrock, Cork, Ireland