Oonah Keogh

Oonah Keogh (2 May 1903 – 18 July 1989) was an Irish woman who became the first female member of the Dublin Stock Exchange, in 1925.

After she returned to London to study her father gave her a job in the family business, Joseph Keogh & Company Stockbroking.

[2][3][4][5][6] A small number of women around the world had begun to work as stockbrokers in various capacities by the late 19th century.

However, newspaper reports from the years immediately following the war indicate that women stockbrokers were increasingly common, with a small number accepted into exchanges in New York City, Berlin, and Amsterdam.

Nevertheless, the Dublin Stock Exchange had never accepted a woman as a member before by the time Keogh returned to Ireland to work for her father's firm.

The new Irish constitution guaranteed equality, and, with her education and wealth, Keogh was fully qualified.

Disagreements with her father encouraged her to take some time off and visit her sisters Eta and Genevieve in Hampshire in England.

Keogh had lodged shares with a bank which was now claiming that they were owed against the company debts.

Her father had not removed her name from the company documents and Keogh was found to owe the money, and thus also the court costs.