The Two Marys

A celebration of Strong Irish Women

Throughout Irish history, warrior women have stood up passionately for their causes, from Queen Maeve, a woman not to be trifled with, who went to war over possession of a bull, to Countess Markievicz who campaigned tirelessly for Irish freedom to Hannah Sheehy-Skeffington who succeeded in getting women the vote.  In more recent times, two Marys – Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese have carried on the warrior spirt into the twenty first century.

Receiving the Medal of Freedom

Mary Robinson

In 1990, Mary Robinson became the first woman President of Ireland. She studied law at Trinity College Dublin in the 1960s and entered Irish politics in the 1970s. From the start, she set about campaigning for women’s rights. In those days, women were not allowed to sit on juries nor could they continue to work once they married. Mary’s ideas were not always popular; she was often criticised for being too outlandish in a land trying to catch up with the twenty first century, but by the end of her tenure she was a greatly admired president at home and abroad.

While president, Mary reached out to Irish emigrants everywhere. In fact, she put a symbolic light in the window of her official residence that was visible to all as a guide to finding their way home. Mary is passionate about the protection of Human Rights and campaigns across the globe to tackle some of the world’s toughest problems. She was the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for five years and was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Obama for her work. Although now in her 70s, Mary is as active as ever and leads an organization dedicated to combating climate change. She remains a strong and popular voice for ordinary people everywhere.

Mary McAleese

As if one female president wasn’t enough, Mary McAleese became the second woman President of Ireland, following Mary Robinson into the post in 1997.

This Mary had a lot in common with the previous president – she studied law at Queens University, Belfast before becoming a Politician. She also continued the campaign for Human Rights and equality. Likewise, her ideas caused some controversy.

Mary’s experience of growing up during The Troubles in Northern Ireland fuelled her passion for peace and reconciliation – causes which are still very much part of her life. In 2014, Mary hosted a state visit by Queen Elizabeth who visited the Irish Republic for the first time. After serving two terms as Irish President until 2011, Mary is now a professor at Glasgow University in Scotland.

Both Marys are fearless women who used their influence to help shape modern Ireland, and indeed the world; may their trailblazing spirit live on.

Footnote: The four fires of Queen Brighid

To bind our family together in the Celtic tradition we created a piece of jewellery - - the Baleo Family Pendant.

Queen Brighid, yet another inspirational Irish woman formed part of the inspiration for our Baileo Knot. Her four “fires’ were Hand, Hearth, Head and Heart which neatly sums up the traditional Irish value set.

Alongside the four Provinces, four sisters and the travels of the Irish nation to the four points of the compass our knot is symbolic of our love of all things Irish