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Gertrude Gaffney was an Irish journalist and an outspoken advocate of women's rights who made her career as a columnist with the Irish Independent. Unusually for the time, she worked as a roving foreign correspondent, travelling widely in Europe. She is best remembered for her coverage of the Irish Brigade fighting for General Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939.

Frances Smith was born on 3 April 1858 in Lockport, New York to John Marston Smith and Elizabeth née Reilly. She graduated from Bay View Institute in 1876 and from the Woman's Law Class at New York University. She married as her first husband Jay Humphreys, who died in 1883 and left her a widow with two children. Her second husband Was Thomas St. John Gaffney, whom she married on 17 August 1894 in Summit, New Jersey. In 1899, she was elected president of the National Council of Women, in which capacity she served until 1902. She died in Summit, New Jersey on 23 February 1945.

Agnes Mary Gaffney was born in Limerick in 1874 to Thomas Gaffney and Agnes Mary née Clune and was educated at Laurel Hill Convent. She was her parents’ only surviving daughter, but had several brothers, many of whom became prominent figures in Irish public life. Among these were James Gaffney (1866-1933), who became a Crown solicitor for county Limerick; Joseph Gaffney (1868-1897), a prominent figure in municipal politics in Limerick and High Sheriff of the city during the year 1896; and Thomas St John Gaffney (1864-1932), who emigrated to America and served as US Consul General at Dresden and Munich in Germany from 1905 to 1915. A strong pro-Irish nationalist, he openly supported Germany during the First World War, which cost him his consular post.

Agnes Mary Gaffney divided her time between Ireland and America as a socialite and featured prominently in the cultural life of both countries. She also took an interest in women’s rights issues through the influence of her sister-in-law Frances Humphreys Gaffney née Smith, who was elected president of the National Council of Women in America in 1899. Agnes settled permanently in Ireland following her marriage to George Robert Ryan in 1900. Her subsequent life history is unknown.

Hella Anna Maria Scholz was born in Berlin on 29 December 1928 as the younger of the two daughters of Bruno Scholz, a merchant in building materials, and Klara née Kaiser. She was educated in Berlin. In 1942, she met Günther Junge, a pilot with the German Luftwaffe. They remained a couple until Günther’s death in an air battle on 27 January 1944.

After the war, Hella worked as a laboratory assistant for a British military medical unit in Hannover. Here, she met her future husband, an Englishman named William Fuller. They married on 1 January 1951 at the Ploughley & Bullingdon Register Office in Oxford, and in February of that year Hella became a British citizen. She and her husband lived in Oxfordshire and had no children. Hella later moved to Penarth in Glamorgan, Wales, where she died on 31 January 2003.

Richard Frizell (d. 1804) was the son of Charles Frizell of county Wexford. He was a land surveyor and a leading member of his profession in eighteenth-century Ireland along with his brother, Charles Frizell. In 1778, he became agent to the Earl of Ely of Rathfarnham, county Dublin.

Charles Frizell (1738-1812) was the son of Charles Frizell of county Wexford. He was a land surveyor and a leading member of his profession in eighteenth-century Ireland along with his brother, Richard Frizell.

Spanish military general and leader of the Nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939, who ruled over Spain as a dictator from 1939 until his death in 1975.

Dr. Catherine Foley is a dancer and musician. Her undergraduate degree is in music from Cork (NUI) and she holds a doctorate in ethnochoreology (Irish traditional step dance) from London. She worked as a collector of Irish traditional music, song and dance for Muckross House, Killarney, Co. Kerry, and has lectured, performed, published, and given workshops internationally. She designed the MA Ethnochoreology and the MA Irish Traditional Dance Performance courses at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick, and acted as director of both courses until her retirement in 2019. Catherine was instrumental in the establishment and development of the National Dance Archive of Ireland and served as its first director. She is also founder and Chair Emerita of Dance Research Forum Ireland.