{{short description|Irish chemist and nationalist}} {{About-distinguish|the chemist and wife of the President of Ireland|Phyllis Ryan (actress)}} {{Use Hiberno-English|date=April 2022}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}} {{Infobox person | name = Phyllis Ryan | image = Philomena_Ryan.jpg | image_size = 160px | caption = Ryan in 1964 | birth_name = Philomena Frances Ryan | birth_date = {{birth date|1895|2|28|df=y}} | birth_place = Taghmon, County Wexford, Ireland | death_date = {{death date and age |1983|11|19 |1895|2|28 |df=y}} | death_place = Dublin, Ireland | resting_place = Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, Ireland | spouse = {{marriage|Seán T. O'Kelly|1936|1966|reason=d}} | relatives = {{Ubl|James Ryan (brother)|Josephine Ryan (sister)|Mary Kate Ryan (sister)|Agnes McCullough (sister)|Nell Ryan (sister)}} | alma_mater = {{Ubl|University College Dublin|National University of Ireland}} }} '''Philomena Frances Ryan''' (28 February 1895 – 19 November 1983) was an Irish chemist and nationalist and the second wife of President of Ireland, Seán T. O'Kelly.
==Early life and family== Philomena Frances Ryan was born on 28 February 1895 to John Ryan and Elizabeth (née Sutton), farmers in Tomcoole, near Taghmon, County Wexford. Ryan was the youngest of six sisters and five brothers. They were a nationalist family who "played an important role in revolutionary politics and helped shape the new Free State."<ref name=":0">Hayes, Jim (2016). Wexford Family at the Heart of 1916 Rising, Gorey Guardian 22 March 2016. [3]</ref> Their home was used as a headquarters in the War of Independence.<ref>McAuliffe, Mary and Gillis, Liz (2016). Richmond Barracks 1916. We Were There: 77 Women of the Easter Rising. Dublin City Council. pp242-243.</ref> Her brother, James Ryan was an Irish Volunteer who became a senior Fianna Fáil Minister.<ref name=":1">Gillis, Liz (2016). Women of the Irish Revolution. Mercier Press. p.51.</ref> Ryan and her sisters were involved in Cumann na mBan, two of whom were arrested and imprisoned after the Easter Rising.<ref name=":1" /> Three of her sisters went on to marry Seán T. O'Kelly, Richard Mulcahy, and Denis McCullough respectively.<ref name=":0" />
Ryan was educated in the small nearby national school at Caroreigh and in the Loreto Abbey in Gorey. For third level she went to University College Dublin, where she graduated with a B.Sc. in chemistry in 1916, followed by her master's degree the following year. She was the only woman in her year and only the fifth female scientist to have graduated from the National University of Ireland.
== Nationalism == During her time in college, the Easter rising took place. Ryan reported for duty at the General Post Office, Dublin with her sisters, where they acted as messengers.<ref>{{cite web|title=Witness Dr. Nancy Vyse-Power|url=http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/reels/bmh/BMH.WS0541.pdf#page=29|publisher=Bureau of Military history|access-date=12 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103142233/http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/reels/bmh/BMH.WS0541.pdf#page=29|archive-date=3 January 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Ryan sisters also attempted to get the British army to stop firing on Red Cross locations.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Bureau of Military history|title=Witness Right Rev. Monsignor M. Curran, P.P|url=http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/reels/bmh/BMH.WS0687.pdf#page=71|access-date=12 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171123143433/http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/reels/bmh/BMH.WS0687.pdf#page=71|archive-date=23 November 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the lead up to the events she and her sisters had acted as cover for the men meeting up, accompanying them to make it look like they were out with their girlfriends.<ref>{{cite web |title=Witness His Excellency, Seán T. O'Kelly |url=http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/reels/bmh/BMH.WS1765%20PART%202.pdf#page=94 |publisher=Bureau of Military history |access-date=12 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171117230638/http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/reels/bmh/BMH.WS1765%20PART%202.pdf#page=94 |archive-date=17 November 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Between 1919 and 1921, during the War of Independence she divided her time between her work as a chemist and her political and military activities. Ryan was a member of, and at one point a captain in, Cumann na mBan. She managed to escape arrest and worked with the organisations supporting those who did get arrested.<ref>{{cite web |title=Witness Miss Brighid O'Mullane |url=http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/reels/bmh/BMH.WS0485.pdf#page=2 |publisher=Bureau of Military history}}</ref><ref name="dib">{{cite web|url=http://dib.cambridge.org|title=The Dictionary of Irish Biography}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Explore: Letters of 1916 |url=http://letters1916.maynoothuniversity.ie/explore/letters/159 |website=letters1916.maynoothuniversity.ie |access-date=12 August 2018 |archive-date=6 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206085513/http://letters1916.maynoothuniversity.ie/explore/letters/159 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Explore: Letters of 1916 |url=http://letters1916.maynoothuniversity.ie/explore/letters/165 |website=letters1916.maynoothuniversity.ie |access-date=12 August 2018 |archive-date=6 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206085539/http://letters1916.maynoothuniversity.ie/explore/letters/165 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Explore: Letters of 1916 |url=http://letters1916.maynoothuniversity.ie/explore/letters/169 |website=letters1916.maynoothuniversity.ie |access-date=12 August 2018 |archive-date=6 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206085637/http://letters1916.maynoothuniversity.ie/explore/letters/169 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="NLI">{{cite web |title=Seán T. Ó Ceallaigh and The Ryans of Tomcoole |url=https://www.nli.ie/pdfs/mss%20lists/178_Se%C3%A1nT%C3%93CeallaighRyansOfTomcoole.pdf |publisher=National Library of Ireland}}</ref><ref name="irc">{{cite web |title=Marking the Decade of Centenaries: Ireland 1916-2016 |url=http://research.ie/assets/uploads/2017/06/irc_marking_the_decade_of_centenaries_booklet_0-1.pdf |publisher=The Irish Research Council}}</ref><ref name="nli2">{{cite web|url=http://www.nli.ie/pdfs/mss%20lists/160_Se%C3%A1nT%C3%93Ceallaigh_AdditionalList.pdf|publisher=National Library of Ireland|title=Seán T. Ó Ceallaigh (Additional Papers)|access-date=12 August 2018|archive-date=29 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160929053059/http://www.nli.ie/pdfs/mss%20lists/160_Se%C3%A1nT%C3%93Ceallaigh_AdditionalList.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=Bureau of Military history|title=Witness Michael O'Connell|url=http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/reels/bmh/BMH.WS1428.pdf#page=17|access-date=12 August 2018|archive-date=4 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304190257/http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/reels/bmh/BMH.WS1428.pdf#page=17|url-status=dead}}</ref>
When the Irish Civil War began, Ryan agreed with the anti-Treaty side. She wrote to her sister Min severing ties with herself and her husband Richard Mulcahy, a general in the Free State army, for the duration.<ref name="NLI" /><ref name="nli2" /><ref name="irc" />
==Career==
Ryan worked with Professor Hugh Ryan and published papers. Some of their research was funded by Nobels Ltd. Ryan went to London to train as a public analyst. When she came back to Dublin she worked in the college laboratory. In 1925, she set up a laboratory in Dawson Street, Dublin where she worked as a public analyst. She chose to employ female graduates.<ref name=":2">Gillis, Liz (2016). Women of the Irish Revolution. Mercier Press. p.157.</ref> Eventually Ryan was the public analyst for 12 county councils. For many years she was the only female public analyst in Ireland.<ref name="dib"/><ref name="NLI"/><ref name="nli2"/><ref name="irc"/>
Ryan was a founder member of the Irish Chemical Association (1922–36). She was on the committee of the Irish Chemical Association (1936–7), then vice-president (1938–40) and president (1940–41). In 1934, Ryan became a member of the first industrial research council.<ref name="dib" /><ref name="NLI" /><ref name="nli2" /><ref name="irc" />
==Later life==
In September 1936, Ryan married Seán T. O'Kelly. He was the widower of her sister Mary Kate (Kit) who had died in 1934 at the age of 55.<ref name=":2" /> The couple received a papal dispensation in order to marry. They had no children. Her husband became President of Ireland in 1945, at which point Ryan gave up her career. Her hobbies included flower arranging and bridge.<ref name="dib" /><ref name="NLI" /><ref name="nli2" /><ref name="irc" /> In June 1946, Ryan organised a reunion event at Áras an Uachtaráin for members of Cumann na mBan,<ref>Gillis, Liz (2016). Women of the Irish Revolution. Mercier Press. p.218.</ref>
Her husband served two terms as President of Ireland before retiring in 1959, at which point the couple moved to Roundwood, County Wicklow. O'Kelly died in 1966. Ryan died on 19 November 1983 aged 88 in Our Lady's Hospice at Harold's Cross, Dublin. They are both buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.<ref name="dib" /><ref name="NLI" /><ref name="nli2" /><ref name="irc" />
==References and sources== {{Reflist}}
{{Spouses of the president of Ireland}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Philomena}} Category:1895 births Category:1983 deaths Category:Alumni of the National University of Ireland Category:Cumann na mBan members Category:Irish women chemists Category:People from Taghmon Category:People of the Easter Rising Category:People of the Irish War of Independence Category:Spouses of presidents of Ireland Category:Scientists from County Wexford Category:20th-century Irish chemists Category:Women in the Easter Rising Category:Women in the Irish War of Independence