John Healy takes chair at TUD Ógra Fianna Fáil Kathleen Clarke Cumann

Kilcullen-Newbridge Local Area Representative for Fianna Fáil, John Healy, has taken on a new role as the chair of the Technological University Dublin (TUD) Ógra Fianna Fáil Kathleen Clarke Cumann, writes Brian Byrne. A graduate of UCD in History and Politics and currently pursuing a master’s in Public Affairs and Political Communications at TUD, his appointment comes at a pivotal moment for the party, with the Dublin Central by-election on the horizon. 

He says he is eager to revive the historic Cumann and has plans for several upcoming events, inviting anyone in the college interested in politics to get involved.

Kathleen Clarke, for whom the Cumann is named, was the wife of Tom Clarke, executed for his part in the 1916 Rising. She was a founder member of Cumann na mBan, and during the War of Independence, was an active fundraiser, sheltering men and women on the run. She worked as a District Justice in the Sinn Féin courts in Dublin. 

A founder member of Fianna Fáil, between 1928 and 1936 she served in the Seanad. She was Dublin's first female Lord Mayor, from 1939 to 1943. From 1965, she lived with her youngest son, Emmet, and his family in Liverpool, returning briefly to Dublin in 1966 for the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Rising. She died in Liverpool on 29 September 1972, aged ninety-four.

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