Nellie Bushell

Last updated

Nellie Bushell
Born(1884-01-23)23 January 1884
Dublin, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Died11 August 1948(1948-08-11) (aged 64)
Inchicore, Dublin, Ireland
Occupation(s)Textile artist, political activist

Ellen Sarah Bushell (born 23 January 1884 in The Liberties, Dublin, died 11 August 1948 in County Dublin) was an Irish textile artist and political activist. [1] She played a significant role in the Irish War of Independence, as a messenger, tailor, gun runner and safe house operator. [1] [2]

Contents

Background

Nellie was born to Edward and Ellen Bushell in Francis Street, in 1884. Ellen had died by 1901 when Edward had remarried, and lived in Clanbrassil Street. [1] [3] By the 1911 census, Nellie was living in Newmarket Street, Dublin 8. [1] She took on the trade of her father, weaving poplin and silk. [1] She was also an active member of the Irish National Dramatic Company, becoming the Irish National Theatre Society, based in the Abbey Theatre, where Bushell worked as an usher and ticket agent. [1] [4]

Irish Nationalism

Bushell made kilts for Fianna Éireann, the youth republican movement. [1] [5] She soon became a committee member. [1] She worked with Helena Molony and Eamon Martin. [1] She was involved in storing Republican guns in 1914. [1] The day after the Easter Rising began she was called into action, helping to evacuate Watkins' brewery, before delivering surrender orders to Marrowbone Lane. [1]

Following the rising, she helped conceal rebels such as Peadar Kearney. [1] Later she helped to smuggle Michael Collins out of a Black and Tan-surrounded Abbey. [1] She remained a target of Tans attention throughout the Irish war of independence. [1]

She was awarded a (modest) military service pension in 1941, but continued working for the Abbey until 1948. [1] [6]

Death and funeral

Bushell was admitted to the Adelaide Hospital, later dying at home in Inchicore on 11 August 1948. [1] She was given full military honours, alongside attendance from the Irish theatrical world. [1]

Bushell's name is among those remembered on a plaque, unveiled in 1966, in the Abbey commemorating its staff involved in the rising. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Easter Rising</span> 1916 armed insurrection in Ireland

The Easter Rising, also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an independent Irish Republic while the United Kingdom was fighting the First World War. It was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798 and the first armed conflict of the Irish revolutionary period. Sixteen of the Rising's leaders were executed starting in May 1916. The nature of the executions, and subsequent political developments, ultimately contributed to an increase in popular support for Irish independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constance Markievicz</span> Irish nationalist, suffragist, socialist, politician, and revolutionary (1868–1927)

Constance Georgine Markievicz, also known as Countess Markievicz and Madame Markievicz, was an Irish politician, revolutionary, nationalist, suffragist, socialist who was the first woman elected to the Westminster Parliament. She was elected Minister for Labour in the First Dáil, becoming the second female cabinet minister in Europe. She served as a Teachta Dála for the Dublin South constituency from 1921 to 1922 and 1923 to 1927. She was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Dublin St Patrick's from 1918 to 1922.

Events in the year 1966 in Ireland.

Events from the year 1921 in Ireland.

Events from the year 1916 in Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Come Out, Ye Black and Tans</span> Irish rebel song

"Come Out, Ye Black and Tans" is an Irish rebel song, written by Dominic Behan, which criticises and satirises pro-British Irishmen and the actions of the British army in its colonial wars. Its title refers to the Black and Tans, mainly former British Army soldiers, who reinforced the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) during the Irish War of Independence and committed many acts of violence and terror against the Irish population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Devoy</span> Irish rebel

John Devoy was an Irish republican rebel and journalist who owned and edited The Gaelic American, a New York weekly newspaper, from 1903 to 1928.

Cumann na mBan, abbreviated C na mB, is an Irish republican women's paramilitary organisation formed in Dublin on 2 April 1914, merging with and dissolving Inghinidhe na hÉireann, and in 1916, it became an auxiliary of the Irish Volunteers. Although it was otherwise an independent organisation, its executive was subordinate to that of the Irish Volunteers, and later, the Irish Republican Army.

The Plough and the Stars is a four-act play by the Irish writer Seán O'Casey that was first performed on 8 February 1926 at the Abbey Theatre. It is set in Dublin and addresses the 1916 Easter Rising. The play's title references the Starry Plough flag which was used by the Irish Citizen Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Skinnider</span> Irish-Scottish revolutionary and feminist (1892–1971)

Margaret Frances Skinnider was a revolutionary and feminist born in Coatbridge, Scotland. She fought during the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin as a sniper, among other roles, and was the only woman wounded in the action. As a scout, she was praised for her bravery. Sadhbh Walshe in The New York Times refers to her as "the schoolteacher turned sniper".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth O'Farrell</span>

Elizabeth O'Farrell was an Irish nurse, republican and member of Cumann na mBan, best known for delivering the surrender in the Easter Rising of 1916.

Maev Kennedy is an Irish journalist. She has worked as a staff news writer for The Irish Times, where she wrote the Dail (parliament) sketch, and for The Guardian. She has been a columnist for the Museums Journal and is a regular contributor to the Art Newspaper. At The Guardian, she edited the diary column, and was arts and heritage correspondent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Máire Nic Shiubhlaigh</span> Irish actress (1883–1958)

Máire Nic Shiubhlaigh was an Irish actress and republican activist. She started acting in her teens and appeared in the first Irish-language play performed in Ireland. She was a founder-member of the Abbey Theatre and was leading lady on its opening night in 1904, when she played the title role in W. B. Yeats's Cathleen Ni Houlihan. She later joined the Theatre of Ireland, which she helped to found.

Ria Mooney was an Irish stage and screen actress, artistic director of the Abbey Theatre (1948–1963) and director of the Gaiety School of Acting. She was the first female producer at the Abbey Theatre.

George J. Nesbitt was an Irish businessman and Free State senator from Kimmage, Dublin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia Grenan</span> Irish nationalist, suffragette and socialist (1883–1972)

Julia Grenan was an Irish nationalist, republican, suffragette and socialist and member of Cumann na mBan, best known for being one of the three last women to leave the Headquarters during the Easter Rising of 1916.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Connolly</span>

Sean Connolly was an Irish republican, socialist and Abbey Theatre actor who took part in the Easter Rising. He was a captain in the Irish Citizen Army and was the first rebel to be killed during the Rising.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisa Nolan</span> Irish female Military Medal recipient

Louisa Nolan MM (1898–?) was an Irish woman recognized with the Military Medal by King George V for her bravery and humanitarian aid during the Easter Rising in Dublin, Ireland in 1916.

Mary McLoughlin (1901–1956) was one of the women who actively served in the 1916 Easter Rising. The younger sister of the famed "Boy Commandant General" Sean McLoughlin, at fifteen years old, she served as a dispatcher during the uprising, running messages between the various outposts held by the rebels. She is one of about 2000 participants of the Easter Rising who gave witness statements to document the events in the 1950s, after Ireland gained its independence.

Molly O'Reilly was an Irish republican and Socialist activist and soldier, taking part in the 1916 Irish Easter Rising with the Irish Citizen Army. Most notably, she unfurled the flag at Liberty Hall for the ICA during preparations for the rising.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Gallagher, Niav. "Bushell, Ellen Sarah ('Nellie')". Dictionary of Irish Biography . Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  2. ↑ Armstrong, Maggie (27 March 2016). "Stage: Here is your seat, Sir - and here are your guns". Irish Independent . Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  3. ↑ Gillis, Liz (17 May 2018). "The Silk Weaver, Usherette and Revolutionary". Culture Date with Dublin 8. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  4. ↑ Mulkerns, Val. "Matinée at The Abbey – (Sunday Miscellany)". ValMulkerns.com. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  5. ↑ "Ellen Bushell, Easter Rising 1916 rebel and Abbey Theatre staff member. - Photographer unknown and Abbey Theatre". Google Arts & Culture . Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  6. ↑ "Abbey Theatre Nellie Bushell". RTÉ Archives . Retrieved 8 February 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.