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Eileen Mary Corrigan was born on the 29th of May 1896 in Skibbereen County Cork. During the 1916 Easter Rising Eileen travelled from Belfast and sat her Junior Sophister exams in Trinity College Dublin on Tuesday 25th and Wednesday 26 April. She passed her exams and received a BA in Latin and French. She continued on to become on a teacher in Scotland. She died on the 4th September 1993 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland at the age of 97.

Early life
Eileen Corrigan was born on the 29th of May, 1896. She was an only child, born in her home town in Bridge Street, Skibbereen, County Cork. She then moved to Northern Ireland with her family, residing in 192 Albertbridge Rd, Pottinger, Co. Down. The reason the Corrigan family moved up north was because her father got offered a new job position close to Belfast.

Eileen was born into a wealthy family. The men in her family were predominantly from a long line of farmer's with the exception of her own father. She had several professional photos taken of her by photographers in Dublin. These photos include her on her own as a child, and also Eileen with her family as a young girl and then as a graduate from Trinity College.

While residing in Co. Down, they had a servant. Her name was Mary Kate Thornhill. She was born in 1883, making her 18 years old while working for the Corrigan's. She too lived on Albertbridge Road. She was single and a Catholic.

Education
Eileen Corrigan studied at Trinity College Dublin. She studied Astronomy, Mathematical Physics, Logistics, Latin and French. During her education, she had a tutor named Ms.Canning. This would have been the person that Eileen had a lot of contact with and received advice from during her studies. She graduated from Trinity in 1917 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree having completed a major in Latin and French.

She then continued her studies at Queen's University Belfast in the diploma's inaugural year. Her time here was spent completing her Higher Diploma in Education. Eileen then extended her studies by completing a diploma in New Testament Greek in Kings College, London.

Her first teaching position was in Londonderry. With so much experience and degrees to her name, she then moved to England. She spent most of her long teaching career here and near the Home Counties.

Trinity College Dublin
Eileen Corrigan became a prominent figure in Irish history during the 1916 rising which took place during her education at Trinity College Dublin. Eileen’s Junior Sophister exams were due to be taken on Tuesday 25th and Wednesday 26 April however, with the outbreak of the 1916 Easter Rising it was not expected for anyone to sit their exams. Regardless, Eileen travelled to Dublin from Belfast by train on Easter Monday, 24 April. Eileen had been unaware that the Rising was taking place. She recounted her experience in the “Belfast Evening Telegraph”, which is now known as the Belfast Telegraph, on Friday, 5 May.

In her account, Eileen describes her journey to her student residence in Young Women’s Christian Association located in Rathmines. She noticed that the front gate of Trinity was shut as she describes that she witnessed “three men in green uniforms standing inside the big gate of Stephens Green Park”.

After the incident, she wrote a note home to her parents informing them of her safe arrival.

“Just a line to let you know I arrived safely, in case the papers should make you anxious,” she wrote to her parents. The little postcard was sent from Eileen’s digs at the Young Women’s Christian Association in Rathmines. “All communication is stopped from Dublin”, she continued, “but a lady promised to post this to-morrow from the North. Everything will probably be all right to-morrow, as the military are coming from Curragh.”

It is said that she was one of just four female students who sat their exams in rebellion as counter attacks occurred outside Trinity’s walls. Despite this and as well as being a witness to a gunshot on Harcourt Street, it was not until later that she learnt of the outbreak of the Rising in Dublin. She then describes her experience of the following two days, she being one of only four women to appear for the Tuesday examination, which was held in the Trinity Hall.

The Dublin University Officer Training Corps were on hand to defend the College until the arrival of a detachment of British troops on the Wednesday evening. Nevertheless students were forced on occasion to dodge the rebels’ bullets, which became more frequent as the fighting intensified over the next few days according to E. Gittens.

After her exams, Eileen was invited to attend lunch at the Provost Mchaffy's House for security reasons. It was arranged by her Latin examiner, Which was apparently a more terrifying experience than the attacks outside on the streets.

On the 10th of May 1916, Eileen received a letter from E.M Hanson of Trinity College informing her that she had successfully passed Tuesday’s written exam and Wednesday’s oral in both Latin and French.

Family
Her father was Rev William Edward Corrigan. He was born in 1863 in Shean, Church Hill, Co. Fermanagh. His family lived there for over 300 years. Like his father before him, Edward Corrigan, was a farmer. However, after some time he decided to give his heart to God after being influenced by the late Miss Harriet Gordon. He engaged immediately into Christian work. He was accepted as a candidate for the ministry. He then became the minister at the Green Road Methodist Church in fashionable Knock, a part of east Belfast. In 1888 he was appointed to Gorey. Subsequent rural appointments were Charlemont, Maryborough and Skibbereen. In 1924 he was made the President of the Methodist church of Ireland. During his lifetime, he also had a temporary arrest when he was mistakenly identified as Eamon De Valera. He retired in 1930 at the age of 67. After 42 years of strenuous and successful service in the full work of the ministry he retired due to high blood pressure and threatened heart troubles. He was a keen traveller and visited New York in 1931 from Liverpool, England and returned a month later to Plymouth, England. Rev William Edward Corrigan passed away on the 10th July 1936 at 17:25pm in Knox, Belfast, Antrim, Down, Ireland at the age of 73.

Eileen's mother's name was Ann Jane Gordan. She was born on December 16, 1866 in Shean, Church Hill, Co. Fermanagh.

William Edward Corrigan and Ann Jane Gordan married on the 27th of June 1895. They married in the Centenary Church in the Parish of St Peters in Dublin. Their marriage was solemnized in the presence of Lizzie A. Corrigan, Williams sister and Emily Rogers a representative for Ann.

Eileen's grandparents were, on her father's side, Edward Corrigan and Elizabeth-Jane Corrigan And on her mother's side, James Gordon, who was also a farmer from Church Hill, Enniskillen.

Later life
Eileen took a year of "rejuvenation" as she put it, in an Anglican convent after completing her diploma. Her experience here led her to joining the Scottish Episcopalian Church in later years.

She had many interests, not all were intellectual or spiritual. She enjoyed a number of courses including cookery lessons, travelling and letter writing. In her retirement she visited Russia at least five times, and also visited Greece numerous times.

After teaching in England for several years she retired in 1960 at the age of 64. After this, she went to live in Edinburgh for the next thirty- three years, of which the last were spent in a retirement home.

Death
Eileen died on the 4th September 1993 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland at the age of 97. On the 13th of September she was buried in Mount Jerome Cemetery, Dublin along with her parents. Eileen bought the grave when her father passed away in 1936 for £14.13 (Unknown, personal communication, Nov 2, 2014).

Commemoration
Trinity College created a project in which they gathered sources connected to the 1916 Rising. The project was called "Utterly Changed". Their project was based around exploring the library of Trinity College Dublin's research collections, relating to the 1916 Easter Rising. These collections included diaries, letters, pamphlets, photographs, objects and items of clothing. Eileen was considered a significant figure for this project as there was collections relating to her in the manuscripts and archives research library. The article dedicated to Eileen was called "Examinations under Fire".

Trinity's project on Eileen Corrigan was also featured in the Irish Times. The article was called "Trinity Seeks Ordinary Letters relating to 1916 Events" published on the 25th of September 2013.