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Concept
Bridget Dirrane
Summary
Bridget Dirrane (15 November 1894 – 31 December 2003) was an Irish nurse, centenarian and memoirist.
Bridget Dirrane was born in Oatquarter in the townland of Kilmurvey on Inishmore, Aran Islands, County Galway on 15 November 1894. She was the youngest child of Joseph Gillan and Maggie (née Walsh). Her father was a weaver of flannel cloth and had a small farm. She had four brothers and three sisters. Her oldest brother was a fisherman, who died at age 21 in 1901, and her father died before 1911. Despite this hardship, all of the children went to school, with one of her brothers becoming an Irish teacher, and later an Irish inspector. The family spoke Irish at home, but they were all bilingual with English. Dirrane was schooled at the national school in Oatquarter until the age of 14. She left to work in local homes, looking after children. When she wrote her memoirs late in life, Dirrane claimed to have met Joseph Plunkett, Éamonn Ceannt, Thomas MacDonagh, Thomas Ashe and Patrick Pearse when they visited the island, visiting a house where she looked after the children, discussing politics and plans for the Easter Rising with them. She was a republican, becoming a member of Cumann na mBan in 1918 while she was working for Fr Matthew Ryan as a housekeeper. She was involved in drilling and assisting fugitives from the authorities. Because of their known republican sympathies, the Black and Tans raided the Gillan family homes.
Dirrane moved to Dublin in 1919 to train in St Ultan's Hospital as a nurse. She was still under surveillance, being arrested alongside her employer Claude Chavasse when she was working as a nurse in his house. She was held in Dublin Bridewell for two days before being transferred to Mountjoy. In the time of her imprisonment, she was not charged or put on trial. Her refusal to speak English angered the guards, culminating in her going on hunger strike for a number of days in 1920 until she was released. She took part in the Cumann na mBan vigil outside of Mountjoy in November 1920, when Kevin Barry was hanged.
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