She trained as a domestic economy teacher and worked for seven years at a series of positions in County Meath.

[1][4] Gifford experienced the living conditions of the landless rural poor while lodging in labourers' cottages during this time.

[1][4] During the 1913 Dublin lock-out she assisted James Larkin enter the Imperial Hotel, on 31 August to address the crowd.

She spoke to the hotel staff to prevent Larkin's strong Liverpool accent giving away his identify.

She gave lessons on camp cookery in Liberty Hall and found jobs for recruits coming in from abroad.

[6][5][7][4] After her time in prison, Gifford travelled through England to the US where she and other women veterans of Easter week lectured throughout America.

Holding to her upbringing, Gifford remained a staunch Protestant, unlike four of her sisters, who had married Catholics.

Noticing the huge number of visitors for the 1932 Eucharistic Congress she organised a small exhibition there of 1916 memorabilia for the National Museum of Ireland.

Gifford coordinated a substantial body of material pertinent to nationalist organisations, the Easter Rising, and the war of independence, which now forms the core of the present collection.