Mary 'Molly' Adrien
"After the attack at Ashbourne, I rendered first aid to the men. In fact I attended to both sides, friend and enemy"
- Mary 'Molly' Adrien
Mary Adrian, better known by the name 'Molly', was born in County Meath in September, 1873. She was the daughter of Edward and Mary Adrien of Micknanstown House in Stamullen. When she was still a child, Molly’s family moved to Balbriggan, where she was educated at the Loreto Convent and later at Surbiton High School in England.
From 1911 on, Molly lived in Oldtown, North County Dublin. She joined Cumann na mBan in November 1915 and later became Director of the Lusk branch, which under her influence grew to a membership of between 25 and 30 by 1916. She trained in first aid and field signals and received additional instruction in Dublin at Brunswick Street. She eagerly passed on her knowledge to other members of Cumann na mBan and the Irish Volunteers.
Just before Easter 1916, Molly received a notice from the central branch of Cumann na mBan with a prearranged coded postscript which read; “We are having a little party on Monday, and probably you will have a similar one.” Molly mobilised on Easter Sunday, but was demobilised on the orders of Miss Touhy of central branch later that evening when it became clear that the Rising was to be postponed. As a result, she remained at home in Oldtown, where on Monday she heard from locals returning from the Fairyhouse races that the Rising had begun.
On Tuesday morning, Molly cycled to Swords and made contact with an IRB centre there, who informed her that the Fingal Brigade were encamped at Finglas Glen. She proceeded towards the Finglas camp, where she joined up with Thomas Ashe and the 5th Battalion. Molly was sent by Ashe to the GPO where she delivered a report on the Fingal Volunteers position, strength and armaments to the Volunteers leaders, before being instructed to conduct a reconnaissance of North County Dublin.
At around 7.00 pm on Tuesday evening, she cycled to Dr. Richard Hayes’s house in Lusk where she reassured members of the Volunteer's families that all was well. On Wednesday the 26th, she returned briefly to her home in Oldtown where behind pictures and wall panels she hid personal documents and monies given to her for safe keeping by the Fingal Volunteers. Molly then returned to Finglas Glen seeking orders regarding supplies stored at Blackhills and Skerries, but by the time she reached the camp, the 5th Battalion had moved on to attack Swords RIC barracks. Undaunted, she made her way through the ever tightening British Army cordon around central Dublin, and under fire entered the GPO.
On Friday the 28th of April, Molly returned to Lusk and learnt that a major battle was underway at the Rath Crossroads near Ashbourne, Co. Meath. She took her bicycle towards the sound of the guns and arrived in the midst of the five hour long Battle of Ashbourne. In its aftermath she tended the wounded Irish Volunteers and Royal Irish Constabulary before returning to Oldtown, while the rest of the 5th battalion moved to New Barn. On Saturday the 29th, she attempted to re-enter Dublin with a dispatch but was unable to and went instead to Kilsallaghan with the news that three lorry loads of British infantry where heading to Ashbourne. On Sunday she was at Newbarn when the 5th Battalion finally surrendered but was not taken prisoner. In the aftermath of the Rising, Molly and the women of Cumann na mBan were vital to maintaining the national movement. Molly worked tirelessly for the National Aid Collection and was part of the Anti-Conscription campaign also. Later, she was presented with a specially inscribed bicycle in recognition of her work as a dispatch rider.
In 1920, Molly Adrien was elected to the Balrothery Board of Guardians as a Sinn Féin candidate and gained employment as a School Attendance Officer. During the War of Independence, she once more served as a scout and dispatch rider. She opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty during the Civil War, and in the 1920’s refused a state pension saying she had sufficient funds to live on and pensions were for “the boys who were disabled and the dependents of those who fell in the fight.” In the 1926, she lost her job and had only a very small income from the Balrothery Old Age Pension Committee, of which she was Secretary. In the 1930's her circumstances were such that she eventually applied for a state pension. Mrs. Pearse, mother of Padraig, wrote in support of her claim, describing Molly as “a most refined lady just eking out a bare existence and using every moment to work for the good of County Dublin". Molly became secretary of the William Pearse Fianna Fail Cumman at Oldtown, and in 1930, she was the only female candidate nominated in the Dublin County Council elections. Mary 'Molly' Adrien died in 1949, and was buried in Crickstown Graveyard with full military honours.
- Written by historian Tóla Collier, who features in Fingal's Finest. For more information, please visit the Battle of Ashbourne Centenary Committee webpage.
