Margaret Dobbs was born in Dublin but spent much of her life in the Cushendall, Co Antrim. Along with Roger Casement and Francis Biggar she was one of the organisers of the Feis in Glenarrif in 1904, and was active on the Feis Committee until the end of her life. She was an Irish scholar and felt that ‘Ireland without Irish is quite meaningless’. She wrote plays, among which is She’s Going to America, performed in Cushendall by the amateur dramatic society.

She was closely involved with the Irish language schools in Rathlin, and at Gortahork, Co Donegal. In 1916 she put forward £600 towards the defence of Roger Casement, a close friend. When she died, despite the fact that her family requested a private funeral, hundreds of people from the Glens attended.