MARGARET ERRAUGHT: Margaret Erraaught, who died on January 26th aged 78, played a key role in the advancement of the interests of women in Ireland.
She did so through steady and demanding work for the Irish Countrywomen's Association, the Women's Political Association and the Council for the Status of Women.
There was nothing one dimensional about Margaret Erraught: she could analyse the detail of a section of the Constitution for the Council for the Status of Women and then go home and adjust a new dress until it fitted her exactly. In other words, she did not fit anybody's caricature of a feminist - and was living evidence of the silliness of most such caricatures, from whichever side they come.
She was born on April 25th, 1923, to William Joseph and Una Christina (née Fitzgibbon) Stanley. Her Dublin-born father was a librarian and her mother, from Tipperary, was a newsagent. Margaret was their second child and only girl.
She was educated at the Dominican Convent in Wicklow. At 19, she was working in the Department of Industry and Commerce. For a period she worked under Dr Thekla J. Beere, the first woman Secretary in the Civil Service, who was also to become chairwoman of the first Commission for the Status of Women (1970-1972). Thus, she was quickly set on the path which would result in a lifetime's work in the interests of women.
That work was built around the Irish Countrywomen's Association. Indeed, at the time of her death she had been a member of the ICA for 46 years. Throughout much of that time the ICA was, in many rural areas, the only social outlet for women. But it was more than that too: it was based on a belief and a pride in the equality and ability of women. It was a mass movement organised by women, for women. These latter qualities, perhaps, were not always obvious to those who would take a dim view of assertiveness on the part of women and who saw the ICA as no more than a social club.
Margaret Erraught was, at different times president of the Galway, Donegal and Dublin federations of the ICA and is the only member to have been president in three different regions. This is a reflection of the number of times she had to uproot herself as the work of her husband, an Army man, brought them around the country. She had married Col Patrick Erraught in 1951.
She loved the ICA and its camaraderie. It helped her to settle and become part of the community in the many different places in which she lived during her married life.
She also held office on many national committees of the ICA. She was vice-president of the ICA Dublin Federation at the time of her death. She carried out the duties of that latter office fully despite a struggle with cancer.
However, her work on advancing the interests of women went far beyond her involvement with the ICA. She helped draft the constitution of the Women's Political Association and in 1977 she became delegate from the ICA to the Council for the Status of Women (now the National Women's Council of Ireland). She chaired the Council for the Status of Women in 1981 and 1982. She was later made an honorary member of the CSW and continued to provide invaluable advice on constitutional and other issues - she had a sharp mind and a good eye for detail.
Her work for women also spread beyond Ireland. In 1983, in Vancouver, Margaret Erraught was elected European president of the Associated Countrywomen World Wide. During her three years in this position she did much to open up new opportunities for relationships and exchanges in Eastern Europe including Russia, Estonia and particularly Poland.
On occasions she returned home with only the clothes she was wearing as she had dispersed her wardrobe among the women she met. Her explanation was, "what else could I do, they had nothing".
In 1984, Margaret Erraught was among a small group of women who visited China with the then Minister of State for Women's Affairs, Nuala Fennell.
She enjoyed sports and as a young woman she was goalie for Railway Union Hockey Club's first team. She played golf in her younger days and was president of Donegal Golf Club for a term. She also was a member of Clontarf and Galway golf clubs and was lady captain in Letterkenny in 1967. Among Margaret Erraught's other interests were flower arranging and calligraphy.
Her many years service to the ICA brought her a special commendation and award in 2001 as part of the United Nations Year of the Volunteer, and this was presented during her requiem Mass in the Pro-Cathedral.
Her husband died in 1985. She is survived by her son Stan, daughter Lucy and brothers, Vincent and Frank.
Margaret Mary Erraught: born 1923; died, January 2002