Countess Markievicz – An Adventurous Life

The extraordinary Countess Markievicz was born into a wealthy Anglo-Irish family and grew up enjoying painting, hunting and parties. She met the Polish Count Markievicz in Paris and married him. She was even presented at court to Queen Victoria. But later she became interested in Irish politics and joined the fight for Irish freedom. She also worked hard to help the poor of Dublin. She fought in the Easter Rising 1916 and was sentenced to death, but as a woman her sentence was changed to life imprisonment. However, she was released a year later. Then she joined the new Irish government, the Dáil Eireann. By the time she died she had given away the last of her wealth, and died in a public hospital ward ‘among the poor where she wanted to be’.