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Early Life and Education
[1]Smyth 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, who was a law stationer was brought up in Dublin.When he died Smyth’s brother James Leo became head of the house. Her mother Sarah, was a housewife. She was brought up in Enniskillen. [2]Smyth had three sisters and one brother. Her sisters were called Sarah Jane, Mary and Margaret Winifred. Her brother WM Thos. Smyth 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. Smyth was also a fluent Irish speaker according to the 1911 census. At the time of the 1911 her occupation was a typist [3].

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,Smyth and Byrne'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.

In a witness statement by Elizabeth Colbert, sister of Con Colbert who was executed in 1916 she describes her encounter with Lucy Smyth and her brothers love for Smyth. After her brother’s execution, Elizabeth became closer with Smyth and on one occasion when Elizabeth visited her house, Smyth showed her the letters she had received from Con Colbert. Elizabeth then quickly learned of her brother’s love for Lucy, he described her as ‘the nicest girl in Dublin’. Elizabeth then claimed that her brother would have married her had he not been executed. Father O’Mahony, a local parish priest informed Lucy of a package that Con Colbert had handed him to be delivered to Smyth. Smyth never received the package and went with Elizabeth to see Fr. O’Mahony. He told Smyth that a young girl had offered to deliver it to her, he presumed she was a member of Cumann na mBan and that her last name was “Mc Namara”. However, the parcel was never found as they were unable to trace its whereabouts. This was a big disappointment for both Smythand Colbert's sister Elizabeth. Con Colbert was a rival of Lucy’s husband, Tom Byrne (Colbert, 1916).

[4]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 ' home, the Gatekeeper's Lodge at the entrance to Áras an Uachtaráin. Smyth and Byrne 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
[5]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 1stLieutenant (Stories from 1916, 2015).

[6]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). Cumannna mBan was the main female support organization working for the success of Sinn Fein in the election (Matthews, 2010). On April 4,  Cumann na mBan was launched at a meeting held in the Pillar Room in the Mansion House.

During the years 1914-1921, Smyth was heavily involved in the activities of Cumann na mBan. On Easter Monday in 1916, Smyth 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)

[7]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  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)

[8]As a member in the first aid movement, she attended to the wounded in the Hibernia Bank and the GPO. Smyth attended to the injured in the GPO and Hibernian Bank. Smyth 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)

[9]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 safe-keeping (Stories from 1916, 2015).

[10]Smyth's daughter, Sheila O'Leary, one of the few people, and probably the only one left alive, whose parents were both in the GPO during Easter 1916. Smyth was awarded four medals in total for her involvement in the Rising and the W of Independence, as well as the medal given to survivors on the 50thanniversary. Smyth was considered as an 'ordinary' person who did extraordinary things

Death
[11]Lucy Agnes Smyth died at the age of 90, on November  1972. She is buried in Glasnevin cemetery in, Dublin[12]. Lucy is buried along with husband Tom and son Myles. [13]Thomas F. Byrne died 7th September 1962 aged 85 years old (Irish Times,1972). [14]Myles died in 1968 at the age of 41.