Margaret Keogh, one of two Cumann na mBan members to die in the fight for Irish freedom, has been honoured by a Dublin City Council commemorative plaque in Ringsend.
The nineteen year-old printer’s assistant was shot at her home in Stella Gardens, Ringsend, Dublin, on Saturday 10th July 1921, during a series of raids by Crown forces.
She died of her wounds two days later and was buried with military honours in Glasnevin.
The plaque, unveiled at an event on Sunday, July 11, was proposed by a group of local residents.
At the event historian Dr Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc remarked that Margaret Keogh “embodied all of the various strands entwined in the Irish Revolution.”
As well as being an active member of Cumann na mBan, Keogh was a member of the Irish Clerical Workers Union, and was the captain of the Croke Ladies Hurling Club.
She had been due to play a match in Howth the day after she was shot.
Speaking at the unveiling of the plaque on Fitzwilliam Quay, Ringsend, Lord Mayor Alison Gilliland said: “Margaret Keogh was a young women who played an active part in the political, trade union, and sporting life of Dublin and her community.
Only one of the many women who played a significant role in the struggle for Irish freedom, Margaret was one of the very few who paid the ultimate price.
I congratulate the local community for proposing this plaque, and I’m honoured and delighted to unveil this Dublin City Council plaque on the street where Margaret Keogh lived.”
The decision to erect the plaque was made by the Dublin City Council Commemorations & Naming Committee, whose chair, Councillor Michael Mac Donncha, said: “The Commemorative Plaques scheme allows the City to formally commemorate people who have made a significant contribution to the life of Dublin.
This is only the fourth of our commemorative plaques to honour a woman, and we hope to see many more such applications in the future.”