Overview
Jane Wyse Power (; ; 1 May 1858 – 5 January 1941) was an Irish activist, feminist, politician and businesswoman. She was a founder member of Sinn Féin and also of Inghinidhe na hÉireann. She rose in the ranks to become one of the most important women of the revolution. As President of Cumann na mBan, she left the radicalised party and formed a new organisation called Cumann na Saoirse, holding several senior posts in the Dáil during the Free State.
Early life
Born Jane O'Toole in Baltinglass, County Wicklow in 1858, the daughter of Edward O'Toole and Mary Norton. When she was only two years old her father sold the business and moved to Dublin. Her family were strongly Nationalist and provided refuge for several Fenians. Before she was twenty she and her four siblings lost both their parents to illness. In 1881 she became involved in politics for the first time by joining the Ladies' Land League that year. She was an intimate of Anna Parnell and an admirer of Anna's brother, Nationalist Member of Parliament and Leader of the Home Rule Party, Charles Stewart Parnell.
During her time in the Ladies' Land League she met her husband, John Wyse Power, the then editor of the Leinster Leader newspaper and a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. He was also one of the founder members of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). They married on 5 July 1883 and lived in Naas, County Kildare.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).