Named as the most daring woman working for the Irish Republican cause by the Daily Mail in 1923, Máire Comerford (1893-1982) was an active participant in the War of Independence and the subsequent Civil War (1919-1923), when she fought against acceptance of a partitioned Ireland, the new Irish Free State, and the creation of the Northern Ireland statelet, which remained part of the United Kingdom. Following arrests, imprisonment, beatings, hunger strikes, and a daredevil escape, Comerford was sent to the United States in November 1923 by jailed Anti-Treatyite leader Éamon de Valera to propagate the Republican cause and to raise funds for Republican prisoner relief.

Marking the hundredth anniversary of Comerford’s mission, the editor of her posthumously published memoir, Hilary Dully, will trace Comerford’s footsteps from gentile beginnings in rural Ireland to Republican icon—a journey of extraordinary commitment to a national ideal, explored and reimagined through her unique archive, recently acquired by the Burns Library, with particular emphasis on Comerford’s letters home during her nine-month sojourn. Moving between the anecdotal, familial and political, the letters bear testament not only to a creeping sense of defeat for the Republicans but also lay bare both the homesickness and simultaneous wide-eyed wonder of a young woman traversing between New York, Boston, Chicago and Washington in the presidential election year of 1924.

A documentary filmmaker, writer, and film lecturer, Hilary Dully’s films have been commissioned and broadcast on RTE, Channel 4 and TG4 and shown at Irish and international film festivals. She has also taught documentary and film practice at the University of Galway. Dully lives in rural East Clare, where she has initiated and produced a number of documentaries about, or in conjunction with, her local community. Related by marriage to Máire Comerford through Comerford’s nephew, filmmaker Joe Comerford, Dully’s publication of On Dangerous Ground: A Memoir of the Irish Revolution with Lilliput Press in 2021 has brought long overdue attention to Máire Comerford’s remarkable courage, character, and impact.

A complimentary cold buffet supper and bar service will follow Dully’s talk and discussion at 6pm. Copies of On Dangerous Ground will be available for sale and signing.

Joe Comerford’s recently digitally restored and acclaimed 1988 film, “Reefer and the Model,” which features a character part based on Máire Comerford, will be screened at 7pm with discussion with Joe Comerford to follow.

All are welcome. RSVPs not required but appreciated: https://bit.ly/comerford-events-BC

The above portrait photo Máire Comerford was taken for her American tour, which included lectures in various cities.

Presented by Boston College Libraries in collaboration with Boston College Irish Studies and support from the Eire Society of Boston and Tom and Trisha Carty. 

For questions regarding transportation, parking, and building accessibility, please refer to our Burns Library website, or contact Burns Library administrative assistant Caroline Pace at pacecar@bc.edu or (617) 552-3282.