Grace Gifford

The family was well off and Grace studied art at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art, and later became a caricaturist. A chance meeting with an Irish journalist whilst Grace was studying in London introduced Grace and her sisters to William Butler Yeats, Constance Markievicz, and Maud Gonne.

Grace met Joseph Plunkett through a function at the at St Enda's School (the establishment founded by Pádraig Pearse to give boys an Irish education) for the United Arts Club, of which both were members. 

Joseph Plunkett was the son of a Papal count. He suffered from tuberculosis and was already in poor health when he and Grace met in 1914. Within a year, they were secretly engaged and planned an Easter wedding, which was to follow Grace's baptism into the Catholic faith. The wedding was to take place on 24th April 1916.

Grace knew nothing about the planned Easter Rising ; and Joe, as a member of the Supreme Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) was sworn to secrecy.

The day before Easter, Grace visited Joe in hospital where he had had surgery for gland problems in his neck. That same evening, Joe made out a will leaving everything to Grace, and left the hospital to take place in the Rising. 

Grace Gifford married Joseph Mary Plunkett in Kilmainham Gaol on the night before he was executed for his part in the Easter Rising of 1916. 

Following the executions, Grace stayed at the Plunkett home at Larkfield, where she suffered a miscarriage. 

Although not a member of Cumann na mBan , Grace continued to work for Irish Republican causes. She was eventually arrested and served time in Kilmainham Gaol, along with other Republican women. After her release, Grace, who remained a widow for the rest of her life, struggled to make a living from her art. 

She died in 1955, presumably from heart failure and was accorded a funeral with full military honours in the Plunkett family grave in Glasnevin.

Grace Eveleen Gifford was born March 4, 1888 at her family home in Rathmines, an affluent Dublin suburb. She was the second youngest of twelve children. Her father, Frederick Gifford, was a wealthy solicitor (attorney) and a Catholic. Isabella Burton Gifford, her mother, was Protestant. The daughters were raised in their mother's faith and the sons were raised as Catholics.

In 1904, at the age of sixteen, Grace entered the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art, where her talents for caricature were soon discovered. One of Grace's instructors was the well-known artist, William Orphen, who considered her one of his best students and often sketched her portrait. One of his paintings of Grace was included in his series titled "Young Ireland ".

Among Grace's classmates was Willie Pearse, Padraic's younger brother, who was training to be a sculptor.

After spending 1907-08 studying at the Slade School of Art in London , she returned to Dublin to work as an illustrator and caricaturist. Since work for an artist was difficult to find, Grace considered emigrating to America but decided against doing so.

Grace's younger sister, Sydney Gifford Czira , began her writing career by submitting articles to Arthur Griffith's newspaper, Sinn Fein. (The name was later applied to the political party.) Through another Irish journalist, Mrs. Dryhurst, the Gifford sisters were introduced to future leaders of the 1916 Rising, such as Constance Markievicz, Thomas MacDonagh (who married Grace's sister, Muriel), Padraic Pearse and Maud Gonne.