Born: 30 October 1904, Ireland
Died: 3 May 1952
Country most active: Ireland
Also known as: Bridget Mallick
This biography is republished from The Dictionary of Irish Biography and was written by Alice McDermott. Shared by permission in line with Creative Commons ‘Attribution’ (CC BY) licencing.
Redmond, Bridget Mary (1904–52), Cumann na nGaedheal and Fine Gael TD, was born 30 October 1904 at the Curragh, Co. Kildare, second of four children of John Mallick, landowner, hotelier, and racehorse owner, and Bridget Mallick (née Sex), both of the Curragh. She was a pupil at the Ursuline Convent in Waterford city 1916–22, during which time she acquired the name ‘Tiny’ on account of her small stature, a form of address by which she was known to family, friends, and political supporters for the remainder of her life. Popular with pupils and staff while at school and good academically, she was particularly gifted at singing, although her shy disposition prevented her from realising her full potential. On completion of her schooling, Bridget Mallick returned to her family home in the Curragh, where she remained till her marriage some eight years later. She spent her time hunting, racing, and motoring, activities consistent with her status as the daughter of wealthy parents in the Ireland of the 1920s, and at which she excelled. She went on to become a well known sportswoman and a keen rider to hounds.
Having been introduced to her future husband by mutual friends, Bridget married (18 November 1930) at Monkstown, Co. Dublin, Capt. William Archer Redmond, lawyer, nationalist MP for Waterford city (1918–22), and Independent/National League/Cumann na nGaedheal TD for Waterford (1923–32). He was the only son of John Redmond, nationalist MP for Waterford city (1891–1918) and leader (1900–18) of the Irish Parliamentary Party, and his wife Johanna, an Irish-Australian and daughter of James Dalton, a prominent businessman from Orange, New South Wales. Eighteen years William’s junior, Bridget was, apparently, devoted to him and accompanied him on all his official visits to his Waterford constituency (neither William nor Bridget ever resided in Waterford, choosing instead to remain at his family home, Aughavannagh, Co. Wicklow). This fact was to have a direct and fairly immediate bearing on her own subsequent introduction into, and lifetime involvement in, political life in a way that neither herself nor her husband could have anticipated, because William Redmond died suddenly, aged 46, in April 1932, less than two years after their marriage.
The necessity for a by-election to fill his seat was removed when a general election was called for 24 January 1933. Cumann na nGaedheal had already identified Bridget as the ideal candidate to secure William’s seat. She had the two qualifications necessary to appeal to the party’s Waterford supporters: she bore the name ‘Redmond’ and she was familiar with, and known by, the city’s loyal band of Redmondites. She was, therefore, invited by the party to contest the seat in Waterford and, much to the surprise of many who knew her, she agreed to stand for election on behalf of Cumann na nGaedheal.
She stood in seven consecutive general elections throughout her political career in Waterford and was returned in each, initially for Cumann na nGaedheal and subsequently for the Fine Gael party. In the first (1933), she took the first seat with 6,849 votes. In the second (1937), she took the third seat with 8,254 votes. In the third (1938) and fourth (1943), she took the second seat with 7,514 and 7,765 votes respectively. In the fifth (1944), sixth (1948), and seventh (1951), she topped the poll with 8,061, 6,810, and 8,372 votes respectively. She was, therefore, the highest vote-catcher of all the Waterford TDs throughout her period as a politician. She was also the highest vote-catcher, and the youngest (29) when first elected, of all women elected to Dáil Éireann during the same period.
Right-wing politically and a friend and supporter of Eoin O’Duffy, she was a central figure in the Blueshirt movement in Waterford city and county during the years 1933–4, a cause which, it is widely acknowledged, offered a continued raison d’être for the Redmondite movement in the city after the death of her husband. She was a frequent contributor to dáil debates, with a particular interest in legislation affecting housing and social conditions. Her regular requests for improvements in both areas played a part in helping to identify the central role and responsibility of law and government as regards public housing and social conditions generally.
She died 3 May 1952 at her mother’s residence, Athgarvan, near Newbridge, Co. Kildare. Aged 47, she had been ill for some weeks previously. She had no children, and her death brought to a close sixty-one years of parliamentary representation in Waterford by the Redmond family.