Gobnait Ní Bhruadair (born Albinia Lucy Brodrick; 17 December 1861 – 16 January 1955) was an Irish republican and lifelong radical.
She campaigned passionately for causes as diverse as the reform of nursing, protection and promotion of the Irish language and the freedom of Ireland from British rule.
[5] The polar opposite of Ní Bhruadair, he was, in the words of one biographer, 'consistent in his low opinion of the Irish [and] he held imperialist views that warmly embraced much of the jingoism associated with social Darwinism.
[5] The early Albinia Lucy Brodrick conformed to her familial political views on Ireland, if her authorship of the pro-Unionist song 'Irishmen stand' is an indicator.
She visited some of the 1,800 Irish republican internees held by the British in Frongoch internment camp in Wales, and wrote to the newspapers with practical advice for intending visitors.
[4] Following the formation of Fianna Fáil by Éamon de Valera in 1926, Ní Bhruadair continued to support the more hardline Sinn Féin.
She and her close friend Mary MacSwiney left Cumann na mBan following the decision by its members at their 1933 convention to pursue social radicalism.
Described by a biographer as 'a woman of frugal habits and decided opinions, she was in many ways difficult and eccentric', Gobnait Ní Bhruadair died on 16 January 1955, and was buried in the Church of Ireland graveyard in Sneem, County Kerry.
Finally, in February 1979, Mr Justice Seán Gannon ruled that the bequest was void for remoteness, as it was impossible to determine which republican faction met her criteria.