Mairead Corrigan
Máiread Corrigan-Maguire, was the co-founder, with Betty Williams, of the Community of Peace People, an organization which attempts to encourage a peaceful resolution of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The two women were co-recipients of the Female Nobel Prize Laureates in 1976.
Early Life and Education
Corrigan was born into a Roman Catholic family in Belfast, the second child of seven. She attended Catholic schools, St. Vincent’s Primary School and Miss Gordons Commercial College, leaing school at the age of 14.From the age of 16 worked in various positions as shorthand typist and was employed as Confidential Secretary to the Managing Director of Arthur Guinness & Co.
Peace Activism
Corrigan became active with the peace movement after three children of her sister, Anne Maguire, were run over and killed by a car driven by Danny Lennon, an Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) man who was fatally shot by British troops while trying to make a getaway. Anne Maguire later committed suicide. Betty Williams, had witnessed the event, and soon after the two co-founded Women for Peace, which later became the Community for Peace People. The deaths prompted a series of marches throughout Northern Ireland and further afield, all demanding an end to the violence.
In September, 1981, Mairead married Jackie Maguire, widower of her sister Anne,
Prizes and Distinctions
- Carl Von Ossietzky Medal for courage from Berlin section of International League of Human Rights.
- Hon. Doctor of Law from Yale University, U.S.A.
- Norwegian People Peace Prize, 1976
- Nobel Peace Prize Winner – 1976
- Pacem in Terris (by the Vatican) – 1990
References
See Also
- Female Nobel Prize Laureates