Clodagh Finn: Anna Frances Levins — ‘The most travelled Irishwoman in the world’

March 21 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Anna Frances Levins, writes Clodagh Finn

Anna Frances Levins (1876-1941), photographer, publisher, artist, writer and political activist.

Sat, 07 Feb, 2026 - 01:02

Clodagh Finn is a journalist, writer and collector of stories. Her recent book, The Irish in the Resistance, co-authored with John Morgan, shines a light on the forgotten contributions of the Irish who resisted Hitler during WW2.

I’m getting in early to highlight a significant date on the horizon: March 21 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Anna Frances Levins, the photographer, publisher, writer, painter and activist who was once described as “the most travelled Irishwoman in the world”.

She was, in fact, Irish-American but she travelled extensively around Ireland in the early 1900s, photographing and painting a country and a people that she spent much of her life celebrating.