Margaret Pearse

She was the sister of Padraig and William, executed for their roles in the 1916 rising, but Margaret Pearse never wavered in her support for them and her politics remained the same until her death in 1968. Such was her standing in Irish society that the government offered a state funeral, usually only for high ranking public officials.

SENATOR MARGARET PEARSE, sister of the two executed 1916 leaders, Padraic and Willie Pearse, died today in Blackrock, Co. Dublin, aged ninety.  There will be a State funeral. Born on August 4, 1878 at 27 Great Brunswick St., (now Pearse Street, Dublin, her name has always been associated with her brothers and particularly with their educational experiment in founding St. Enda's College. The Pearses were a very devoted family and from their childhood days, Padraic was the natural leader with Willie and Margaret his loyal assistants in all their childhood games. It was natural that when Padraic decided to found St. Enda's, he should turn to these two in particular among his, family as his helpers.

1916 RISING

During the 1916 Rising when each day was one of unendurable anxiety, and during its terrible aftermath for the Pearse family, the late Miss Pearse was the mainstay of her mother, and with her she bore the shocking news of her brothers' deaths with fortitude and dignity. Friends rallied round and the college, was restarted. For some years it struggled on at the Hermitage, Rathfarnham, to which it had been moved in 1909, but it was a hopeless fight and finally it had to close down.

TOURED U.S.

In 1926 Miss Pearse made an extensive lecture tour in the United States to raise funds for Sinn Fein and for St. Enda's. In the 1933 election, she was returned to the Dail as a Fianna Fail T.D. for Co. Dublin. Miss Pearse remained in the Dail until 1937 when she was narrowly defeated and in the following year she was elected a member of the newly-reconstructed Senate. This Senate lasted only a few months and in the following election to the Upper House she was again elected, receiving almost two quotas. However, in the 1943 Senate election she was defeated, but took her seat as one of Mr. de Valera's nominees. She has been a member ever since. Miss Pearse was educated at Holy Faith Convent, Glasnevin. She was a member of the Past Pupils' Union until the time of her death. On many occasions she was its president. For years she was an active member of the Catholic Women's Federation. Miss Pearse was one of the group of 11 Senators selected by Mr. Lemass to sit in the present Senate which was formed after the _general election in 1961. In 1966 she made the journey to 5t. Patrick's Hall, Dublin Castle, on a stretcher to receive a Doctorate of Law degree from the Chancellor of the National University, President de Valera, as one of the relatives of the Proclamation signatories. Last year Miss Pearse Intimated that The Hermitage, Rathfarnham, would not go to the nation but to a religious order or the Archbishop of Dublin. But in a statement last February the Government announced that the Minister for Finance had had discussions with Miss Pearse and that the house and lands would be preserved by the nation as a memorial. On her 90th birthday this year, President de Valera brought with him his granddaughter, Ann, and conveyed the nation's good wishes. The Taoiseach, Mr. Lynch, then on a world tour, sent a message of congratulations from Bombay. He had previously sent her a birthday present. The Minister for Finance. Mr. Haughey, also called and there were messages from the Lord Mayor of Dublin, the Lord Mayor of Cork, the Mayor of Wexford, and many others. A few weeks previously, Senator Pearse had left the Linden Convalescent Home for her historic home, St. Enda's, Rathfarnham. With her were her companion Miss Mary Breen and her pet Alsatian.

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