[1] Another 19th-century trans man was Albert Cashier (born Jennie Hodgers, 1843–1915) from County Louth, who fought on the Union side of the American Civil War.
[2] Ireland and Dublin, in particular, have always been regarded as the home of some of the greatest gay and lesbian writers in the English speaking world, some of whom are Oscar Wilde, Eva Selina Gore-Booth, Elizabeth Bowen, Kate O'Brien, Ladies of Llangollen, Somerville and Ross and Mary Dorcey Prior to formal Irish independence in 1922, sexuality in Ireland was governed by the UK-wide laws emitted from the Parliament of the United Kingdom such as the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.
Some leaders of the Irish Independence struggle of the early 20th century were assumed - at the time or later - to be gay, notably Padraig Pearse and Roger Casement whose sexuality was an element in his trial and execution.
After independence, Ireland became a very insular society, dominated by the Catholic Church and was conservative,[3] however in the midst of this, there was an acceptance of homosexuality of those within the acting profession such as Micheál MacLiammóir.
[4] MacLíammóir when talking to Irish playwright Mary Manning to have had a homosexual relationship with General Eoin O'Duffy, former Garda Síochána commissioner and head of the quasi-fascist Blueshirts in Ireland, during the 1930s.