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.
Thomas St. John Gaffney was born in Limerick on 71 May 1864 to Thomas Gaffney and Agnes Mary née Clune. He emigrated to America at the age of 18 and was admitted to the New York Bar in 1889. He became a naturalized American citizen and in 1897 was elected president of the Patriotic League of America. He was appointed Consul General for Dresden in 1905 and that of Munich in 1913, but was forced to resign in 1915 following his open support for Germany during the First World War. In 1916 he was appointed European representative of the American organisation Friends of Irish Freedom. During his time in Germany, Gaffney befriended Roger Casement and provided scathing criticism of Casement's treatment in his memoir Breaking the Silence: England, Ireland, Wilson and the War. Gaffney married Frances Humphreys née Smith, widow of Jay Humphreys in 1894. He died in Summit, New Jersey on 13 January 1945.
Patricia Ryan was born Mary Patricia Kinneen in London in 1923 to William Kinneen and Christiana Kelly. She trained with Nadine Legat in London until her family's move to Dublin in 1939, when she began taking lessons from and performing with Sara Payne. In 1956, having married the artist John Ryan, she became director of the National Ballet School in Dublin, which later evolved into the National Ballet Company. In 1963, the National Ballet Company amalgamated with Joan Denise Moriarty's Irish Theatre Ballet. The venture was short-lived and the company disbanded shorty after its first season. It also marked the end of Patricia Ryan's career in dance as teacher, dancer and choreographer.
Myrtle Lambkin was a ballet dancer who ran a ballet school in Dublin.
Judith Sibley is a ballet dancer, choreographer and dance teacher. She is the artistic director of Chrysalis Dance and Youth Ballet West and dance teacher at Shannon Dance Academy.
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.
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.