Young Ireland knocking at the door by Sir William Orpen 1907 (a portrait of Grace Gifford).
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Kilternan Abbey circa 1895 - Courtesy of Queensland University of Technology
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Plunketts of Owenstown House
George Nobel Plunkett married Josephine Mary Cranny
born 3 Dec 1851 26 Jun 1884 born circa 1858
Dublin City Donnybrook Co Dublin
died 12 Mar 1948 died 6 Mar 1944
42 Upper Mount Street Dundalk
George Noble Plunkett baptised 7 Dec 1851 at St Andrew’s Westland Row, son of Patrick
J Plunket and Elizabeth Noble of Palmerston Road, Rathgar. He was educated in France,
the Oblate school in Mount Street and Clongowes Wood College. He attended Dublin
University and was a member of the Society for the preservation of the Irish Language.
In 1877 he published ‘A Christmas song and other poems’. He was a Home Rule
candidate for Waterford in 1878 but wasn’t elected. He was a MP for Roscommon North
from 1917 to 1922. He was hon sec of the Central Tenants Defence Association. He was
president of the Vincent de Paul and was conferred with the title ‘Hereditary Count of
the Holy Roman Empire’ in April 1884. He was living at 31 Nelson Street and married
Josephine Mary Cranny on 26 Jun 1884 at the Church of the Sacred Heart, Donnybrook.
Josephine was the daughter of Patrick & Maria Cranny of Muckross Park, Donnybrook.
He was called to the Irish Bar in 1886 but did not practice for long. They lived at Kilternan
Abbey from 1901 until 1923. He was a director of the National Museum from 1907 and
was retired from the post in 1916 due to his arrest. He was arrested again in 1917 but
released from Arbour Hill 18 Jun 1917, the same day as his sons returned from prison in
England. Their town house was at 26 Upper Fitzwilliam Street and they also lived at
Larkfield House in Kimmage but had numerous properties from which they derived their
income. Josephine died 6 Mar 1944 and was buried at Glasnevin. George served as
Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1919 to 1921, Minister for Fine Arts from 1921 to 1922
and Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann in January 1919. He served as a TD from 1918 to
1927 and died 12 Mar 1948 at 42 Upper Mount Street. He was given a state funeral and
buried in the Republican plot in Glasnevin.
1 Philomena (Mimi) Plunkett born 1 Oct 1886 at 24 Upper Fitzwilliam Street. She
married Jeremiah Joseph O’Leary at St Audeon’s Church on 12 Aug 1918.
Jeremiah was an accountant and son of James O’Leary, an accountant. He was
later a trade unionist. Mimi died in 8 Dec1926 from TB at Elgin Road and was
buried at Glasnevin.
1 Colm O’Leary born circa 1920.
2 Rory Plunkett O’Leary died in 1927 aged 3 at 50 Marlborough Road and
was buried at Glasnevin.
2 Joseph Mary Plunkett born 21 Nov 1887 at 26 Upper Fitzwilliam Street. He was
educated at the Catholic University School, Belvedere College and later at
Stonyhurst College, in Lancashire. He was a poet and had TB from an early age.
In 1915 he joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood. He was one of the driving
forces behind the military planning of the Rising. He was the youngest signatory
of the 1916 Proclamation. He married cartoonist, caricaturist and illustrator
Grace Evelyn Vandeleur Gifford at the Chapel of Kilmainham Gaol on 3 May 1916.
The gas light failed and they were married by the light of a candle held by a British
soldier. Grace was the daughter of Frederick Gifford, a solicitor and a Roman
Catholic, and Isabella Julia Burton Gifford, a Protestant. She had studied under
Sir William Orpen and was painted by him in 1907. She is also the model in his
1910 painting 'Ruth and Boaz'. Joseph was executed the following day. Grace
received a Civil List pension from the government in 1932. Joseph was a
beneficiary of J J Cranny’s Will and Grace took the Plunketts (Count and Countess)
to court in 1935 to have the estate administrated so that she could benefit in place
of her late husband. An out of court settlement of £700 was made. She published
three book between 1919 and 1930. Neighbours noticed that her milk had not
been brought in on the 13 Dec 1955. Her flat at 52 South Richmond Street was
entered and she was found to be dead. She was buried with full military honours
close to the republican plot in Glasnevin Cemetery.
3 Mary Josephina Patricia (Moya) Plunkett born 6 Mar 1890 at 26 Fitzwilliam Street.
She was presented at the Castle to the Lord Lieutenant, the Earl of Aberdeen in
1910. She inherited 26 and 28 Elgin Road from her godfather; Dr J J Cranny.
She died in 1928 and was buried at Glasnevin.
4 Geraldine Mary Germaine (Gerry) Plunkett born 7 Nov 1891 at 26 Upper Fitzwilliam
Street. She attended UCD but never graduated. On Easter Sunday 23 Apr 1916, she
married Thomas Dillon, a chemistry lecturer she had met in UCD, at Our
Immaculate Lady of Refuge Church, Rathmines. Thomas was the son of John B
Dillon, an engineer. As her brother Joseph’s literary executor, she published a
volume of his poetry a month after his execution. They lived at Belgrave Road after
their marriage and they had six children, one of whom died aged 3. Thomas spent a
great deal of the period of 1916 to 1922 imprisoned or hiding from the authorities
due to his republican activities. It was interned In Gloucester prison from May 1918
to January 1919. On his release he was appointed professor of chemistry at UCG and
they moved to Galway where Geraldine became a member of Cumann na mBan. The
house was frequently raided, she was arrested on Easter Monday 28 Mar 1921
leaving her children in the care of a servant. She wrote a memoir of her family ‘All in
the blood’, which was edited and published by her granddaughter; Honor O’Brolchain.
1 Marie Dillon born 12 April 1917 at Belgrave Road.
2 Blanaid Dillon born 16 May 1918 at 13 Belgrave Road.
3 Eilish Dillon born 20 Mar 1920 at St Bride’s Hospital Galway.
5 George Oliver Michael Plunkett aka Seoirse Oilibhéar Pluincéid born 5 Jul 1894
was a militant Irish republican. He was sentenced to death after the 1916 Easter
Rising but the sentence was commuted. He was released in 1917, fought in the
Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War. While interned in Mountjoy in
1926 under the Public Safety Act, his sister Mimi died and he and his brother
Eoin were paroled to attend the funeral. He tood this opportunity and ,married
Mary McCarthy on 14 Dec 1914 at St Andrew's Westland Row. An amnesty
was announced as a peace gesture on the same day and all 47 internees were
released. Mary from Dunmanway was a graduate of UCD and a fluent Irish
speaker. They had two daughters and three sons and lived at Owenstown
House on Foster's Avenue from 1931 to 1942. Mary worked as a external
examiner for the National University. George was briefly IRA Chief of Staff
during World War II. His parents purchased a farm at Ballymascanlon. George
and his family moved to Ballymascanlon in 1943 with his parents who also were
resident there. George died on 21 Jan 1944 from a fractured skull having been
thrown from a horse-drawn trap at the Crescent, Dundalk. Mary died
9 May 1952 at 25 Wellington Road, Ballsbridge and the funeral was at Dulargy,
Dundalk.
6 Josephine (Fiona/Fi/) Plunkett aka Fionnghal Pluincéid born 11 Jan 1896 at 26
Upper Fitzwilliam Street In 1916 ]. She served in the women's military group
Cumann na mBan, and indirectly participated in the 1916 Easter Rising as an
organiser. She was anti Semetic as were her family and in 1926 she was charged
with armed robbery on a Dublin money lender for stealing ledgers. She died on
12 July 1977 at the age of 81. She was buried in Glasnevin cemetery in the
Republican plot.
7 John Patrick Joseph (Jack/Eoin) Plunkett born 15 Oct 1897 at 26 Fitzwilliam Street.
He was sentenced to death after the 1916 rising but the sentence was commuted.
He was released from prison in 1917. He worked as an engineer for the ESB but
was frequently imprisoned. Hewent on hunger strike in 1940 in sympathy with
prisoners in Mountjoy. He died a bachelor on 26 Aug 1960 at Eglington Road.
© June Bow & Karen Poff - April 2023
George Nobel Plunkett married Josephine Mary Cranny
born 3 Dec 1851 26 Jun 1884 born circa 1858
Dublin City Donnybrook Co Dublin
died 12 Mar 1948 died 6 Mar 1944
42 Upper Mount Street Dundalk
George Noble Plunkett baptised 7 Dec 1851 at St Andrew’s Westland Row, son of Patrick
J Plunket and Elizabeth Noble of Palmerston Road, Rathgar. He was educated in France,
the Oblate school in Mount Street and Clongowes Wood College. He attended Dublin
University and was a member of the Society for the preservation of the Irish Language.
In 1877 he published ‘A Christmas song and other poems’. He was a Home Rule
candidate for Waterford in 1878 but wasn’t elected. He was a MP for Roscommon North
from 1917 to 1922. He was hon sec of the Central Tenants Defence Association. He was
president of the Vincent de Paul and was conferred with the title ‘Hereditary Count of
the Holy Roman Empire’ in April 1884. He was living at 31 Nelson Street and married
Josephine Mary Cranny on 26 Jun 1884 at the Church of the Sacred Heart, Donnybrook.
Josephine was the daughter of Patrick & Maria Cranny of Muckross Park, Donnybrook.
He was called to the Irish Bar in 1886 but did not practice for long. They lived at Kilternan
Abbey from 1901 until 1923. He was a director of the National Museum from 1907 and
was retired from the post in 1916 due to his arrest. He was arrested again in 1917 but
released from Arbour Hill 18 Jun 1917, the same day as his sons returned from prison in
England. Their town house was at 26 Upper Fitzwilliam Street and they also lived at
Larkfield House in Kimmage but had numerous properties from which they derived their
income. Josephine died 6 Mar 1944 and was buried at Glasnevin. George served as
Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1919 to 1921, Minister for Fine Arts from 1921 to 1922
and Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann in January 1919. He served as a TD from 1918 to
1927 and died 12 Mar 1948 at 42 Upper Mount Street. He was given a state funeral and
buried in the Republican plot in Glasnevin.
1 Philomena (Mimi) Plunkett born 1 Oct 1886 at 24 Upper Fitzwilliam Street. She
married Jeremiah Joseph O’Leary at St Audeon’s Church on 12 Aug 1918.
Jeremiah was an accountant and son of James O’Leary, an accountant. He was
later a trade unionist. Mimi died in 8 Dec1926 from TB at Elgin Road and was
buried at Glasnevin.
1 Colm O’Leary born circa 1920.
2 Rory Plunkett O’Leary died in 1927 aged 3 at 50 Marlborough Road and
was buried at Glasnevin.
2 Joseph Mary Plunkett born 21 Nov 1887 at 26 Upper Fitzwilliam Street. He was
educated at the Catholic University School, Belvedere College and later at
Stonyhurst College, in Lancashire. He was a poet and had TB from an early age.
In 1915 he joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood. He was one of the driving
forces behind the military planning of the Rising. He was the youngest signatory
of the 1916 Proclamation. He married cartoonist, caricaturist and illustrator
Grace Evelyn Vandeleur Gifford at the Chapel of Kilmainham Gaol on 3 May 1916.
The gas light failed and they were married by the light of a candle held by a British
soldier. Grace was the daughter of Frederick Gifford, a solicitor and a Roman
Catholic, and Isabella Julia Burton Gifford, a Protestant. She had studied under
Sir William Orpen and was painted by him in 1907. She is also the model in his
1910 painting 'Ruth and Boaz'. Joseph was executed the following day. Grace
received a Civil List pension from the government in 1932. Joseph was a
beneficiary of J J Cranny’s Will and Grace took the Plunketts (Count and Countess)
to court in 1935 to have the estate administrated so that she could benefit in place
of her late husband. An out of court settlement of £700 was made. She published
three book between 1919 and 1930. Neighbours noticed that her milk had not
been brought in on the 13 Dec 1955. Her flat at 52 South Richmond Street was
entered and she was found to be dead. She was buried with full military honours
close to the republican plot in Glasnevin Cemetery.
3 Mary Josephina Patricia (Moya) Plunkett born 6 Mar 1890 at 26 Fitzwilliam Street.
She was presented at the Castle to the Lord Lieutenant, the Earl of Aberdeen in
1910. She inherited 26 and 28 Elgin Road from her godfather; Dr J J Cranny.
She died in 1928 and was buried at Glasnevin.
4 Geraldine Mary Germaine (Gerry) Plunkett born 7 Nov 1891 at 26 Upper Fitzwilliam
Street. She attended UCD but never graduated. On Easter Sunday 23 Apr 1916, she
married Thomas Dillon, a chemistry lecturer she had met in UCD, at Our
Immaculate Lady of Refuge Church, Rathmines. Thomas was the son of John B
Dillon, an engineer. As her brother Joseph’s literary executor, she published a
volume of his poetry a month after his execution. They lived at Belgrave Road after
their marriage and they had six children, one of whom died aged 3. Thomas spent a
great deal of the period of 1916 to 1922 imprisoned or hiding from the authorities
due to his republican activities. It was interned In Gloucester prison from May 1918
to January 1919. On his release he was appointed professor of chemistry at UCG and
they moved to Galway where Geraldine became a member of Cumann na mBan. The
house was frequently raided, she was arrested on Easter Monday 28 Mar 1921
leaving her children in the care of a servant. She wrote a memoir of her family ‘All in
the blood’, which was edited and published by her granddaughter; Honor O’Brolchain.
1 Marie Dillon born 12 April 1917 at Belgrave Road.
2 Blanaid Dillon born 16 May 1918 at 13 Belgrave Road.
3 Eilish Dillon born 20 Mar 1920 at St Bride’s Hospital Galway.
5 George Oliver Michael Plunkett aka Seoirse Oilibhéar Pluincéid born 5 Jul 1894
was a militant Irish republican. He was sentenced to death after the 1916 Easter
Rising but the sentence was commuted. He was released in 1917, fought in the
Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War. While interned in Mountjoy in
1926 under the Public Safety Act, his sister Mimi died and he and his brother
Eoin were paroled to attend the funeral. He tood this opportunity and ,married
Mary McCarthy on 14 Dec 1914 at St Andrew's Westland Row. An amnesty
was announced as a peace gesture on the same day and all 47 internees were
released. Mary from Dunmanway was a graduate of UCD and a fluent Irish
speaker. They had two daughters and three sons and lived at Owenstown
House on Foster's Avenue from 1931 to 1942. Mary worked as a external
examiner for the National University. George was briefly IRA Chief of Staff
during World War II. His parents purchased a farm at Ballymascanlon. George
and his family moved to Ballymascanlon in 1943 with his parents who also were
resident there. George died on 21 Jan 1944 from a fractured skull having been
thrown from a horse-drawn trap at the Crescent, Dundalk. Mary died
9 May 1952 at 25 Wellington Road, Ballsbridge and the funeral was at Dulargy,
Dundalk.
6 Josephine (Fiona/Fi/) Plunkett aka Fionnghal Pluincéid born 11 Jan 1896 at 26
Upper Fitzwilliam Street In 1916 ]. She served in the women's military group
Cumann na mBan, and indirectly participated in the 1916 Easter Rising as an
organiser. She was anti Semetic as were her family and in 1926 she was charged
with armed robbery on a Dublin money lender for stealing ledgers. She died on
12 July 1977 at the age of 81. She was buried in Glasnevin cemetery in the
Republican plot.
7 John Patrick Joseph (Jack/Eoin) Plunkett born 15 Oct 1897 at 26 Fitzwilliam Street.
He was sentenced to death after the 1916 rising but the sentence was commuted.
He was released from prison in 1917. He worked as an engineer for the ESB but
was frequently imprisoned. Hewent on hunger strike in 1940 in sympathy with
prisoners in Mountjoy. He died a bachelor on 26 Aug 1960 at Eglington Road.
© June Bow & Karen Poff - April 2023