Clodagh Finn: The first lady and Stem pioneer who could have been president

Phyllis Ryan qualified as the only woman with a master’s degree in science from UCD in 1917. She was just the fifth female science graduate since the National University of Ireland was founded in 1908

First lady Phyllis Bean Ui Cheallaigh at the White House in 1959. ‘The visit to the United States remains as a great memory with me most of all,’ she said in 1980. Picture courtesy of the National Library of Ireland

It’s a forgotten and minor detail but I wonder if any of the three presidential candidates know there was once a showpiece mahogany bath in Áras an Uachtaráin. 

It was installed for Queen Victoria’s state visit in 1849 and, fitting for a monarch, I suppose, you had to climb several steps to get into it. It’s long gone now because Phyllis Ryan, the first presidential wife to take up residence in the park, got rid of it as soon as she moved in.