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Lucy Agnes Smyth Early Life and Education Lucy was born in 1882 in Dublin City. She was brought up at the residence of house 76 Eccles Street, Inns Quay, Dublin. Her father Thomas Smyth was brought up in Dublin. He was a law stationer. When he died Lucy’s brother James Leo became head of the house. Her mother Sarah, was a house wife. She was brought up in Enniskillen (CSO, 2015) .Lucy had three sisters and one brother. Her sisters were called Sarah Jane, Mary Anne and Margaret Winifred. Her brother WM Thos. Lucy was a Roman Catholic and a member of the local parish St. George in North Dublin. When she moved to the residence of 49.4 in Rutland Square, West Rotunda, Dublin after her father died she became a member of the local St. Mary’s Parish in Rotunda West, Dublin. Lucy was also a fluent Irish speaker according to the 1911 census. At the time of the 1911 census her occupation was a typist. (CSO, 2015) Tom Byrne and Lucy Agnes Smyth married on April 28th, 1919. (Collins, 2012)Shortly after they married they moved into a house on Upper Eccles Street located just opposite the Mater Hospital. Early in 1920, Lucy and Tom’s first child died after a raid by the Black and Tans when Byrne was arrested and jailed. The couple were well known for their involvement in the War of Independence. A quote by her daughter Sheila regarding her birth "I should have been born in 1922, but my mother fell under the cat and I came early. She had a son, Myles. He had died in 1968 at the age of 41. (Find a grave, 2011) In her witness statement to the Bureau of Military History, Con Colbert's sister Elizabeth recalled that he was in love with Lucy "and would probably have married her if he had lived. She was a nice, gentle, refined girl. She afterwards married Tom Byrne, of Boer War fame, who was also keen on her." (Stories from 1916, 2015) In 1922, Michael Collins appointed her father Tom as the first Captain of the Guard at Leinster House, and the family moved into what Lucy’s daughter Sheila describes as their 'grace and favour' home, the Gatekeeper's Lodge at the entrance to Áras an Uachtaráin. Lucy and Tom raised their four children in this house in Phoenix Park until their deaths. (Stories from 1916, 2015) Role in Cumann na mBan and the Rising Lucy Agnes Smyth was a member of Cumann na mBann. Cumann na mBann is an Irish Republican Women’s Paramilitary Organisation. It was formed in Dublin in early 1914 and was known widely as the female version of the Irish volunteers. Lucy Agnes Smyth played a large role in the Cumann na mBan as she was the section leader of it's Central branch and eventually in later years, she became its 1st Lieutenant (Stories from 1916, 2015).

Cumann na mBan (Women's League) was formed in April 1913. In 1913, a number of women decided to hold a meeting in Wynne's Hotel for the purpose of discussing the possibility of forming an organization for women who would work in conjunction with the recently formed Irish Volunteers (Chumhaill, 2014). Cumann na mBan was the main female support organization working for the success of Sinn Fein in the election (Matthews, 2010). On April 4, 1914 Cumann na mBan was launched at a meeting held in the Pillar Room in the Mansion House. During the years 1914-1921, Lucy was heavily involved in the activities of Cumann na mBan. On Easter Monday in 1916, Lucy aged 34 at the time, played a dangerous role of carrying the arms from a house prior to it being raided. The following day she was given the task of carrying vital messages to the GPO while also being a member of the first aid department. (McGreevy, 2015) On the 23rd April 1916, the Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood finalized arrangements for the Easter Rising, it included Cumann na mBan, along with the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army, into the ‘Army of the Irish Republic’. Patrick Pearse was appointed overall Commandant-General and James Connolly as Commandant-General of the Dublin Division. The day of the rising, forty Cumann na mBan members entered the General Post Office (GPO) on O’Connell Street, Dublin with their male counterparts. They came armed with a Webley revolver and a typewriter. (The Irish War, 2010) As a member in the first aid department she attended to the wounded in the Hibernia Bank and the GPO. Lucy attended to the injured in the GPO and Hibernian Bank. Lucy continued to risk her life by helping carry injured Volunteers to Jervis Street Hospital despite the ongoing fighting being in very close proximity. She also nursed one of Ireland's great patriots who rebelled against the British, James Connolly. (McGreevy, 2015) When the call came to rise, Tom Byrne and 15 volunteers in Maynooth marched to Dublin. Their feet were swollen from their exertion and Lucy Agnes Smyth offered him a bowl of warm water to ease the pain. Later Byrne gave his future wife his watch and money for safekeeping. (Stories from 1916, 2015) Her daughter, Sheila O'Leary is one of the few people, and probably the only one left alive, whose parents were both in the GPO during Easter 1916. Lucy was awarded four medals in total for her involvement in the Rising and the War of Independance, as well as the medal given to survivors on the 50th anniversary. She was considered as an 'ordinary' person who did extraordinary things. (McGreevy, 2015) Death Lucy Agnes Smyth died at the age of 90, on November 14th 1972. She is buried in Glasnevin cemetery in Shankhill, Dublin (Findagrave.com, 2011). Lucy is buried along with husband Tom and son Myles. Thomas F. Byrne died 7thSept 1962 aged 85 years old. (Irish Times, 1972). Bibliography

Chumhaill, E. N. (2014, April 2nd). History of Cumann na mBan. Retrieved from An Phoblacht : http://www.anphoblacht.com/contents/23897 Collins, L. (2012). Poetry by Women in Ireland: A Critical Anthology 1870-1970. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. CSO. (2015). Central Statistics Office. Retrieved from Central Statisitics Office : www.cso.ie Find a grave. (2011). Lucy Agnes Smyth Byrne ( - 1972) - Find A Grave Memorial. Retrieved 10 22, 2015, from Findagrave.com: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=80262063 Good, J. (1946). Inside the GPO 1916. Dublin: O'Brien Press. Irish Times. (1972, November 16th). OBITUARY- Lucy Agnes Smyth. Retrieved from Proquest.com: http://search.proquest.com/docview/526483950?accountid=130717. Matthews, A. (2010). Renegades - Irish Republican Women 1900-1922. Cork: Mercier Press. Matthews, A. (2014). The Irish Citizen Army. Cork : Mercier Press. McGreevy, R. (2015, July 13th). Easter 1916- They put their country first. Retrieved from Irish Times: http://search.proquest.com/docview/1695639402?accountid=130717. Stories from 1916. (2015, September 13th). Byrne the "Boer" and the Nicest girl in Dublin- Tom and Lucy. Retrieved from Stories from 1916:http://www.storiesfrom1916.com/1916-easter-rising/tom-and-lucy-byrne]

The Irish War,. (2010). Cumann na mBan. Retrieved 6 November 2015, from http://theirishwar.com/organizations/cumann-na-mban/ Add