Josephine Ryan

Mary Josephine Ryan (29 December 1884 – 16 April 1977) was an Irish Nationalist. A member of Cumann na mBan and the honorary secretary of the executive committee, she took part in the 1916 Easter Rising and the War of Independence. Background Born Mary Josephine Ryan in Tomcoole, near Taghmon in County Wexford to John Ryan and Eliza Sutton, she was better known as Min to her friends. She was educated in both the Loreto Abbey in Gorey and Dublin and attended boarding school in Thurles called The Ursuline. After leaving secondary-level education, she attended the Royal University of Ireland, taking English, German and French. She graduated in 1908 from the National University after she had spent some time in both France and Germany. Ryan was a teacher in Germany for two years and taught English, she then taught in London for a further four years. After they graduated, each of Ryan's sisters taught English in Germany or France. As they were all in different countries, the sisters used a different method of communication. They sent around a large notebook on which each sister contributed to the notebook by writing a letter. The notebook ended up being a great method of communication between the Ryan sisters and travelled around Europe. While Ryan was in London, she stayed in contact with the Irish Nationalist diaspora. Following the end of World War I, Ryan returned to Ireland.