Clodagh Finn: A lesson in how to reawaken the spirit of our revolutionary women

Clodagh Finn looks at Kerry’s revolutionary women whose spirit has been reawakened and honoured in a majestic bronze sculpture that stands 2.5m tall in the centre of Tralee Town Park

Sculptor Elizabeth O’Kane who created Spiorad Ban Chiarraí (Spirit of the Kerry Women) unveiled last month in Tralee Town Park. Picture: Clodagh Finn

Sat, 08 Aug, 2026 - 01:29

Clodagh Finn

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.

She is May Ahern, a school principal from Lisselton, Co Kerry, who trained branches of Cumann na mBan in Kerry and collected two bags containing six bombs, six revolvers and ammunition off the Kilmorna train and hid them in her home.

She is shop-owner Annie Mary O’Connor who, more than a century ago, raised funds and ran a receiving centre and first aid station at her shop in Moyderwell, Tralee.