Charlotte Grace O'Brien facts for kids

Charlotte Grace O'Brien (born November 23, 1845 – died June 3, 1909) was an Irish writer and a person who helped others (a philanthropist). She was also an activist who worked for Irish independence and for the safety of women moving to other countries. She was also known for collecting plants.

Life Story

Early Years

Charlotte was born on November 23, 1845, in Cahirmoyle, County Limerick, Ireland. She was the younger daughter in a family of seven children. Her father was William Smith O'Brien, a famous Irish nationalist leader. Her mother was Lucy Caroline.

When her father returned in 1854 from a prison colony in Tasmania, Charlotte joined him in Brussels. They stayed there until he came back to Cahirmoyle in 1856. After her mother died in 1861, Charlotte moved with her father to Killiney, near Dublin. She stayed with him until he died in 1864.

From 1864, Charlotte lived at Cahirmoyle with her brother Edward. She helped care for his children until he remarried in 1880. By 1879, Charlotte, who had been hard of hearing since she was a child, became completely deaf. She then moved to Ardanoir near Foynes on the River Shannon and spent her time writing. She became a strong supporter of Charles Stewart Parnell, a political leader.

Helping Emigrants

In 1879, Ireland had a very bad harvest, and there was political trouble. This caused many Irish people to move to America. Charlotte wrote articles and letters to newspapers. She showed the terrible conditions that people faced in the lodging houses in Queenstown (now Cobh), on the ships, and in the poor areas of New York City docks. A famous article she wrote was Horrors of the Immigrant Ship in 1881.

Queenstown Efforts

Charlotte visited Queenstown, which was the main port where people left Ireland. She toured a ship called the Germanic. She successfully worked to get a Catholic priest on board the ships. This helped people feel better, especially spiritually. This achievement got a lot of public attention because Charlotte herself was Protestant. She noted that even though a ship was meant for 1,000 passengers, it sometimes carried as many as 1,775 people.

Between 1856 and 1921, about 3.6 million Irish people left for North America. Most of them were women. Many of these women were single and under 24 years old. At Queenstown, female emigrants faced crowded and expensive places to stay. They also risked being robbed. Charlotte asked the Board of Trade for more help. In April 1882, she opened a 105-bed boarding house in Queenstown. This home was meant to protect girls who were about to emigrate. However, the O'Brien Emigrants Home failed because other boarding house owners and local shops boycotted it. This forced her to order supplies from Cork.

Charlotte also visited the ships her lodgers were going to take. She went with a medical officer almost every day, often starting at six in the morning. She would inspect three or four ships. She even traveled to America herself. She used these trips to check conditions on the ships. She also worked to improve health and safety rules.

New York Efforts

The former home of the Mission of Our Lady of the Rosary in New York City.

In New York, Charlotte found that there was little help for immigrants at the Castle Garden entry point. She also saw that many babies died in the crowded buildings where women lived. She suggested creating an information office at Castle Garden. She also wanted a temporary shelter and a chapel for immigrants. She shared these ideas with Archbishop John Ireland of Minnesota.

Archbishop Ireland agreed to help. In May 1883, the Irish Catholic Association supported the plan. They voted to set up an information office at Castle Garden. Archbishop Ireland also contacted Cardinal John McCloskey in New York. He asked for a priest to help immigrants arriving at Castle Garden. The Mission opened on January 1, 1884. Reverend John J. Riordan became the first chaplain there.

Immigrant girls who needed a place to stay were first placed in local boarding houses. Then, on May 1, a Home for Immigrant Girls opened at 7 Broadway. In 1885, the James Watson House at 7 State Street was bought. This became the Mission of Our Lady of the Rosary for the Protection of Irish Immigrant Girls. It served as a safe place for young immigrant women. Between 1884 and 1890, the Mission helped 25,000 Irish immigrant women.

In 1881–1882, Charlotte went on a lecture tour in the USA. However, she faced problems, partly because she was Protestant and needed support from Catholic clergy. Her poor health and severe deafness also limited her work in America. When she returned to Ireland in 1883, some people suspected she was a British agent. They thought her work was helping the government's plan to move poor tenants off their land. In truth, Charlotte was against this plan, but she continued to help those who came to her.

Charlotte stopped her public work in 1886. She moved to Ardanoir, Foynes, on the Shannon Estuary. She spent a lot of time in Dublin, where she met Douglas Hyde and the painter William Osbourne. She joined the Roman Catholic Church in 1887. She died of heart failure on June 3, 1909, in Foynes. She was buried at Knockpatrick.

Her Writings

Dominick's Trials: An Irish Story (1870) is one of Charlotte's novels. Her 1878 novel, Light and Shade, tells a story about the Fenian rising of 1867. This book included information she gathered from Fenian leaders. It also spoke out against the conditions in Mountjoy Prison. She also wrote a play called A Tale of Venice and a book of poems called Lyrics, both in 1880.

Charlotte also wrote for magazines like The Nation, United Ireland, Limerick Field Club Journal, Dublin University Review, and the Irish Monthly.

From 1880 to 1881, Charlotte focused her writing on Irish political issues. She shared her father's nationalist views. She wrote articles for Nineteenth century magazine, including The Irish Poor Man (December 1880). In an article called Eighty Years (March 1881), she showed her deep sympathy for emigrants. She also worried about the loss that emigration caused for Ireland. In 1881, she wrote strong letters to the Pall Mall Gazette about the government's actions in Ireland. Her experiences with emigrants were also shown in her book Lyrics (Dublin, 1886), which included nationalist songs.

In 1881, she published Wildflowers of the Undercliff, which was a study of flowers on the Isle of Wight.

From 1886, Charlotte wrote about the plants of the Shannon area for the Irish Naturalist magazine. Cahermoyle, or the Old Home (1886) is a book of poems. Charlotte Grace O'Brien; Selections from Her Writings and Correspondence was published in Dublin in 1909.

Legacy

The place where the Mission of Our Lady of the Rosary used to be is now the rectory for the Church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. This church was built in 1964 and holds the Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton. The original house was named a New York City Landmark in 1965. In 1972, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

On March 6, 2015, the University of Limerick honored three important women from Limerick, including Charlotte Grace O'Brien. This event was part of the celebration for International Women's Day.

Her nephew, Stephen Gwynn, wrote a book about her life.

See also

In Spanish: Charlotte Grace O'Brien para niños