Josephine McNeill - Ireland's first female diplomatic head of mission

Josephine McNeill about to present her letter of credence. Image source.

Josephine McNeill (1895-1969) was Ireland's first female head of a diplomatic mission. She took up the post of Irish Minister to the Netherlands in early 1950. She subsequently served as envoy to several other European countries. She remained in the Department of External Affairs until her retirement in 1960. I have just written an Irishman's Diary in the Irish Times newspaper about her. Read it here.

Portrait photograph of Josephine McNeill. Image source.

Josephine McNeill packed an awful lot into her life and was involved with many different organisations and had a wide circle of friends. This can be seen in her private papers that are held in the University College Dublin (UCD) Archives. If you look at the descriptive list, you can see who she corresponded with and on what topic. There are references to a whole range of personalities from the world of the Arts and Politics. For example, she frequently wrote to Lady Augusta Gregory, Shane Leslie, and Lennox Robinson. There are also letters from WB Yeats, Sean O'Casey, George Bernard Shaw, and Mícheál Mac Liammóir.