Eibhlín Ní Bhriain facts for kids

Eibhlín Ní Bhriain (born January 23, 1925 – died January 1, 1986) was an important Irish journalist. She also worked hard to promote the Irish language. Sometimes, she wrote under the name Eileen Mary O'Brien.

Her Early Life

Eibhlín Ní Bhriain was born in Dublin, Ireland, on January 23, 1925. She was the only child of Liam Ó Briain and Helen Lawlor. Her father was a professor who loved Ireland. Her mother, Helen, was a suffragette, meaning she fought for women's right to vote.

Eibhlín went to a convent school in Galway. When she was 16, she started studying at University College Galway. There, she learned about Latin, Irish, and French.

A Career in Journalism

After finishing university, Eibhlín began her career in journalism. She first worked for a newspaper called the Connaught Tribune. Later, she became an official reporter for the Oireachtas, which is Ireland's parliament.

She then moved to England to work for The Yorkshire Post. In the early 1950s, she joined the Irish News Agency. She reported from big cities like London, Dublin, and Belfast. Eibhlín became the northern editor for The Irish Press. In this role, she reported on a period of conflict in Northern Ireland during the mid-1950s.

Promoting the Irish Language

In 1958, Eibhlín wrote a series of articles in Irish for Comhar magazine. These articles were called An Tuaisceart, which means The North. They talked about the challenges in Northern Ireland.

In 1959, she became the editor of Comhar magazine. After that, she took a job at Gael Linn. Gael Linn is an organization that promotes the Irish language. Eibhlín was in charge of public relations there. She also helped with Amharc Éireann, a weekly cinema newsreel. This newsreel showed different parts of Ireland.

In 1965, Eibhlín joined The Irish Times newspaper. She wrote a weekly column called Irishwoman's diary. For this column, she used the pen name "Candida". A pen name is a different name a writer uses. One of her articles, "A social sort of column," was highly praised. It brought attention to social problems and difficulties people faced in Irish society.

Eibhlín was one of the first women journalists at The Irish Times to write about important social and political topics. Before this, women journalists often only wrote about cooking or fashion. She worked with Donal Foley to start a weekly Irish language section in the newspaper. This section was called Tuarascáil. Eibhlín later became the newspaper's Irish editor. She was also an active member of the National Union of Journalists.

Later Years

Eibhlín Ní Bhriain passed away on January 1, 1986, at Baggot Street Hospital. She chose to donate her body for medical research.