Helena Early
Helena Early | |
|---|---|
 from Freeman’s Journal, 30 June 1923 | |
| Born | 1 April 1888 Swords, County Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 1 August 1977 (age 89) Blackrock, Dublin, Ireland |
| Occupation(s) | Solicitor, auditor, Commissioner of Oaths |
Helena Mary Early (1 April 1888 – 1 August 1977) was the first woman solicitor to practice in Ireland.[1][2]
Early life
[edit]Helena Early was born to Peter Early and Mary Ann Reilly on 1 April 1888 in Swords, County Dublin.[3] Her older brothers John and Thomas were solicitors.[4][5]
Career
[edit]Early worked as a law clerk for her brother and placed first in the Preliminary Examination in January 1920. She later came first in the Intermediate Examination and fourth in the Final. Early was indentured to her brother on 22 June 1920 after applying for a practicing certificate in 1919. She was admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in 1923.[1][6] However, Dorothea Heron was the first woman to join the roll of solicitors, on the 17 April 1923.[7]
In 1920 Early was the first woman auditor of the Solicitors' Apprentices Debating Society.[8] She saved the Society's records in 1923, when the records office was burned.[2] She was the first woman in Ireland to hold the title Commissioner of Oaths.[2] Early and her brother Thomas had a practice on O’Connell Street, Dublin. In 1923, after one of her first court appearances, the justice "congratulated her on the able manner in which she had conducted her case."[9]
Early was politically active. In 1928, she proposed fines for the parents of truant youth in Dublin.[10] She spoke in favor of women police officers (gardai) in 1943.[11] Early was President of the Ireland–U.S.S.R. Friendship Society, which was active through the 1950s. Early retired during the 1960s.[1]
Later years
[edit]Her brother and law partner Thomas Early died in 1958.[5] In 1970, Helena Early was described as a competitive bridge and golf player, and "a spry old lady who smokes sixty cigarettes a day." She died in 1977, at the age of 89, in Blackrock, Dublin.[6]
Sources
[edit]- ^ a b c "A Trinity of Women: The First Women Solicitors in Ireland". First 100 Years. 13 June 2018.
- ^ a b c Anderson, Mary (5 November 1970). "Too late for liberation?". Irish Independent. p. 6. Retrieved 24 April 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Birth Register for Swords, April 1888" (PDF). Civic Records, Irish Genealogy.
- ^ "Mr. J. J. Early". Irish Independent. 23 March 1950. p. 8. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
- ^ a b "Mr. Thomas Early". Irish Independent. 20 October 1958. p. 10. Retrieved 24 April 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Garahy, John (25 February 2019). "The first triumvirate of legal women trailblazers". Law Society Gazette Ireland.
- ^ "Heron, (Mary) Dorothea". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
- ^ Gaynor, Mary; O'Sullivan, Mairead (14 February 2020). "The final frontier". Law Society Gazette Ireland.
- ^ "Possession of Cottage; Lady Solicitor Complimented at Drumcondra Court". Evening Herald. 23 July 1923. p. 1. Retrieved 24 April 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "'Most Unfair'; Ratepayers Pay for Parents' Neglect; School Attendance". Evening Herald. 13 June 1928. p. 2. Retrieved 24 April 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "They Want Women Gardai!". Irish Independent. 12 February 1943. p. 3. Retrieved 24 April 2025 – via Newspapers.com.