Charlotte Grace O'Brien

Charlotte Grace O'Brien (23 November 1845 – 3 June 1909) was an Irish author and philanthropist and an activist in nationalist causes and the protection of female emigrants.

Her father was William Smith O'Brien, the Irish nationalist and her mother was Lucy Caroline, eldest daughter of Joseph Gabbett, of High Park, County Limerick.

[2] From 1864, O'Brien lived at Cahirmoyle with her brother Edward, caring for his motherless children, Nelly, Dermod and Lucy, until his remarriage in 1880.

In articles and letters to newspapers and reviews, O'Brien exposed the awful conditions that existed in the Queenstown (Cobh) lodging houses, on board the emigrant ships, and in the dock slums of New York City, where the Irish had to stay upon landing.

A visit to Queenstown, the port of embarkation, and a tour of the White Star Line's Germanic led her to successfully lobby to get a Catholic priest aboard the emigrant ship to help ease the passage, at least spiritually.

The O'Brien Emigrants Home at The Beach, Queenstown failed because it was boycotted by other boardinghouse keepers and local merchants, forcing her to order provisions from Cork.

She made passages herself to America, and used the occasion to investigate shipboard conditions and lobby for the reform and enforcement of health and safety standards.

[2] She proposed an information bureau at Castle Garden, a temporary shelter to provide accommodation for immigrants, and a chapel, all to Archbishop John Ireland of Minnesota, who she believed of all the American hierarchy, would be most sympathetic.

Archbishop Ireland agreed to raise the matter at the May 1883 meeting of the Irish Catholic Association which endorsed the plan and voted to establish an information bureau at Castle Garden.

Ireland also contacted Cardinal John McCloskey, Archbishop of New York, about providing a priest for immigrants arriving at Castle Garden.

[2] She also contributed to periodicals like The Nation, United Ireland, Limerick Field Club Journal, Dublin University Review and the Irish Monthly.

In the spring of 1881, the attitude of the Liberal government towards Ireland led her to address fiery letters to the Pall Mall Gazette, edited by John Morley.