Olivia Taaffe (24 June 1832 – 3 May 1918) was the founder of St Joseph's Young Priests Society.

She and her sister were raised by two aunts and their grandmother and moved between the family homes in the country and Dublin, living occasionally with cousins.

[1][2][3][4][5] On 29 May 1867 she married John Joseph Taaffe of Smarmore Castle Co. Louth in St. Michael's Church, Dún Laoghaire.

Taaffe ran her husband's estate and was a generous benefactor to the local widows and orphans especially in the period after a minor famine in 1879.

Because the lands of her husband were entailed his nephew was the new heir to the estates and Taaffe was left homeless and with a limited income.

[1][2][3][6][4][5] In 1895 she arranged for the publication of an Irish edition of the association's magazine and created what went on to become St Joseph's Young Priests Society.