Teresa Brayton (1868-1943), poet and novelist, was born on 29 June 1868
in Kilbrook, Kilcock, near the famous "Old Bog Road." She was the
daughter of Hugh and Elizabeth Boylan. Teresa attended Newtown National
School and showed an interest in writing from an early age. At senior
school she became a school monitor, a position usually given to good
students who took some teaching duties and helped out generally in the
classroom. She later worked for a short time as an assistant teacher to
her sister Elizabeth in her old school.
Like many of her generation, Teresa left Ireland for America in
September 1895. She settled first in Boston, and later moved to New
York. While there she met and later married Richard Brayton, a French
Canadian who worked in the Municipal Revenue Department. She became
interested in politics while in America, and was an active supporter of
the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Teresa is generally remembered as a
folk poet of Irish America. As an activist Teresa organized fundraisers
and distributed political pamphlets. She returned to Ireland on a number
of occasions, and was acquainted with many of the leaders of the 1916
Rising.
Her writing career began when she got some assignments for
Irish-American newspapers. Teresa began to write poetry for such papers
as the
Irish World ,New York,
The San Francisco Monitor and many other
publications. The pain of being separated from her native country is one
of the themes of her work. In one of her poems
In Cappagh Hill she
describes how she dreamed of being back in Cappagh, but was shocked to
awake to find she was on Broadway in New York. Teresa’s
great-grandfather had taken part in the Battle of Prosperous during the
1798 Rebellion, and she wrote poems for the centenary of the rebellion
in 1898.Always aware of the political climate back home, and the
struggles of the Land League and the National League she campaigned for
both. Teresa wrote nationalist poems on their behalf for local
newspapers such as the
Nation and the
Westmeath Independent.
Her poem, The Old Bog Road became famous as the song of the Irish
exile, and was set to music by Madeline King (later O'Farrelly), a
native of Rochfordbridge, Co. Westmeath. Teresa has been compared to the
Meath poet Francis Ledwidge. She is regarded as an important folk poet
of the Irish-American, who readily identified with her work, especially
her poems of exile. The poem Rosse’s Homecoming is considered to be one
of her most political. This poem is about the return of the body of
Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa a Fenian. In recognition of her efforts
Countess Markiewicz gave her a splinter from the flagpole that flew over
the G.P.O. during the 1916 rising “as a tribute to your beautiful verses that are an inspiration to lovers of freedom and justice.”
- Teresa Brayton's grave Cloncurry Churchyard
Photo: Ger McCarthy
Teresa returned permanently to Ireland in 1932 aged sixty-four. She
settled first in Bray, Co. Wicklow, and later on the North Strand
Dublin where she witnessed the bombing on 31 May 1941 during World War
II. The last three years of her life were spent at Kilbrook where she
died on the 19 August 1943. She was buried in the nearby Cloncurry
cemetery. Enfield Muintir Na Tire erected a Celtic cross over her grave.
President Eamon De Valera performed the unveiling ceremony on 18
October 1957. In his oration he spoke of the importance of Teresa
Brayton as a revolutionary poet. Many of her memorabilia are displayed
in the Teresa Brayton Memorial Library in Kilcock.