Kathleen Clarke, née Daly was a member of Cumann na mBan, and one of very few privy to the plans of the Easter Rising in 1916. She was the wife of Tom Clarke and sister to Ned Daly, both of whom would be executed for their part in the Rebellion. She would later become a member of Sinn Féin and later a Fianna Fáil politician who served as a TD for the Dublin Mid constituency and was the first female Lord Mayor of Dublin.

Born Kathleen Daly in Limerick, she was married to Tom Clarke, signatory of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, one of those executed for his part in the Easter Rising in 1916. She preferred to be known as Caitlín Bean Uí Chléirigh (Kathleen, Mrs Clarke) and had this inscription on her headstone. Tom Clarke had met her uncle, John Daly, while in prison, and married Kathleen, 21 years his junior, on his release in 1898. Her younger brother Edward Daly was also executed for taking part in the rising.

In 1966, as part of the celebrations of the Easter Rising, she and other surviving relatives were awarded honorary doctorates of law by the National University of Ireland. Following her death aged 94 in 1972 at a nursing home in Liverpool, she received the rare honour of a state funeral. She is buried at Deans Grange Cemetery, Dublin.

SaveSave