Margaret Childers (née Dudley; 19 July 1915 – 9 May 2010) was a press attaché at the British Embassy in Dublin, civil servant and activist.

She went on to work at the St John Ambulance Brigade as an assistant secretary in the welfare department for 5 years, overseeing the running of 3 canteens for malnourished mothers in the inner city of Dublin.

It was while working in the embassy that Childers met her husband, a widower who was also a senior member of Fianna Fáil, in 1952 at a diplomatic lunch.

[3] While her husband was a government minister, Childers hosted social events in their home and often accompanied him on official visits.

However, a political dispute in which a partially deaf Fine Gael minister in the National Coalition government, Tom O'Donnell, misheard a journalist's question about Mrs Childers and confirmed that she would be the next president led the plan to collapse.

"[3] Having left Áras an Uachtaráin (the presidential residence) Mrs Childers became an outspoken critic both of her late husband's former colleagues in Fianna Fáil, and of the office of president.

Following the resignation of Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh as president in October 1976, Mrs Childers called for the office's suspension.

She advocated for more women to be active in political and public life, and for greater efforts to be made in fostering a sense of community across Irish society.

In 1975 she took part in the Irish Countrywomen's Association ecumenical peace march, and spoke about the problem of alcohol abuse in Ireland.