Charlotte Grace O'Brien
Charlotte Grace O'Brien (1845–1909) was an Irish author and philanthropist, an activist in nationalist causes and the protection of female emigrants. She is known also as a plant collector.[1]
Life
Born on 23 November 1845 at Cahirmoyle, County Limerick, she was the younger daughter in the family of five sons and two daughters of William Smith O'Brien, the Irish nationalist; her mother was Lucy Caroline, eldest daughter of Joseph Gabbett, of High Park, County Limerick. On her father's return in 1854 from the penal settlement in Tasmania, she rejoined him in Brussels, and stayed there until he came back to Cahirmoyle in 1856. On her mother's death in 1861 she moved with her father to Killiney, near Dublin, and was his constant companion till his death at Bangor, Wales in 1864.[2]
From 1864 O'Brien lived at Cahirmoyle with her brother Edward, caring for his motherless children, until his remarriage in 1880. She then went to live at Foynes on the River Shannon, and spent time on writing. A bad harvest in Ireland in 1879, combined with Irish political turmoil, led to much emigration to America. At Queenstown, the port of embarkation, female emigrants risked overcrowded lodgings and robbery. O'Brien not pressed the Board of Trade for greater vigilance, and founded in 1881 a large boarding-house at Queenstown for the reception and protection of girls on the point of emigrating. She made steerage passages herself to America, and addressed a letter on the separation of the sexes on vessels to Joseph Chamberlain, President of the Board of Trade, in 1881. She established in New York, too, an institution for the protection of girls.[2] In 1881–2 she went on a campaigning lecture tour in the USA. She encountered problems, however, particularly given her Protestant background and the need to enlist support from Catholic clergy. She suffered from poor health, and the onset of deafness.[3]
O'Brien retired from active public work in 1886, moving to Ardanoir, Foynes, on the Shannon Estuary. She joined the Roman Catholic Church in 1887, died on 3 June 1909 at Foynes, and was buried at Knockpatrick.[2]
Works
O'Brien published in 1878 her first novel, Light and Shade, a tale of the Fenian rising of 1867, material for which she had gathered from Fenian leaders. A Tale of Venice, a drama, and Lyrics appeared in 1880.[2]
From 1880 to 1881 O'Brien's interests and writing were centred on Irish political affairs, in which she shared her father's mationalist opinions. She contributed articles to the Nineteenth century on The Irish Poor Man (December 1880) and Eighty Years (March 1881). In the spring of 1881 the attitude of the Liberal government towards Ireland led her to address fiery letters to the Pall Mall Gazette, edited by John Morley. Experiences with emigrants were reflected in her Lyrics (Dublin, 1886), which also contains nationalist ballads.[2]
From 1886 O'Brien contributed on the flora of the Shannon district to the Irish Naturalist. Charlotte Grace O'Brien; Selections from Her Writings and Correspondence was published at Dublin in 1909.[2]
Notes
- ^ Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie; Joy Dorothy Harvey (2000). The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: L-Z. Taylor & Francis. p. 956. ISBN 978-0-415-92040-7.
- ^ a b c d e f Lee, Sidney, ed. (1912). . Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). Vol. 3. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- ^ Helen Rappaport (2001). Encyclopedia of Women Social Reformers. ABC-CLIO. pp. 500–. ISBN 978-1-57607-101-4.
Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1912). "O'Brien, Charlotte Grace". Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). Vol. 3. London: Smith, Elder & Co.