Marie Perolz

rdf:langString Marie Perolz

rdf:langString Marie Perolz (7 May 1874 – 12 December 1950) was also known as Mary Perolz and Máire Perolz, and as Miss Peroze in one crucial document. She was an advanced Irish nationalist, whose career mirrored that of her husband, James Michael 'Citizen' Flanagan and her friend Constance Markievicz. She was a member of the radical women's group Inghinidhe na hÉireann (which in English would mean Daughters of Ireland) and the Irish Volunteers women's auxiliary Cumann na mBan. Mary Perolz was born at Limerick on 7 May 1874, the third child of Richard Perolz and Bridget Carter. Her father and great-grandfather were printers by trade, which informed her literary career. She joined Inghinidhe na hÉireann at its foundation in 1900. She was a member of the Provisional Committee led by Maud Gonne and later Constance Markievicz, and whose members included the Gifford sisters and Helena Molony. She introduced other women such as members of her extended family like Rose McNamara to the organisation. She was frequently involved in the theatre, and acted the first ever play in Irish staged publicly in Dublin, playing Meadda in December 1902 in Eillis agus an Bhean Deirce (Ellis and the Beggar Woman) by playwright Peadar Toner Mac Fhionnlaoich, better known under his pseudonym, Cú Uladh. Perolz, as her friends called her, taught Irish history and language in classes organised by Inghinidhe na hÉireann for Dublin schoolchildren, conducted by lantern light at night. Marie and Helena Molony were stalwarts of the Liberty Players and National Players with the young actor Captain Sean Connolly, who would die in the Easter Rising.