I gave a talk in June 2013 titled ‘Muriel MacDonagh: Tragic Death of a 1916 Widow’ for Skerries Historical Society, at Keane’s Bus Bar.
Skerries has seen many tragic deaths over the years. The one that was remembered by the Skerries Historical Society for their June talk was the death of Muriel MacDonagh, widow of Thomas MacDonagh, who was executed by the British Army for his part in the 1916 Rising. Thomas was one of the seven signatories of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic.
Gerard Shannon gave an excellent talk on the tragic death of Muriel MacDonagh, who died while swimming off the south beach in 1917 just a year after the death of her husband, Thomas MacDonagh.
Muriel and Thomas were married on January 31, 1912. They had two children; a son, on November 12, 1912, christened Donagh MacDonagh – and a daughter, Barbara, three years later on March 24, 1915.
Gerard gave us in great detail Thomas’ part in the 1916 Rising and his court martial, which took place on 2 May 1916 when Thomas was sentenced to death by firing squad.
Read more about the talk on the Old Skerries Society website