Margaret Gaj

Margaret Dunlop was born in Scotland in 1919 to Irish parents.[1]

As a pacifist she joined the Red Cross as a nurse during the second world war. During her time as a nurse she met Polish soldier, Boleslaw Gaj, and they married. He was working as an electrician with the RAF, after escaping from Poland.[1]

At the end of the war Margaret and Boleslaw moved to Ireland. She later set up a restaurant initially in Molesworth Street but then in Baggot Street: the restaurant later became famous as a meeting place for Irish left-wing activists.[1][2] She had two sons Wladek and Tadek.

In the 1960s she became involved in the Dublin Housing Action Committee along with other progressive and left wing activists. She was a founder member of the Irish Women's Liberation Movement in 1970.[3][1] They had their meetings in her restaurant on Baggot Street every Monday. Other campaigns she was involved in were Irish Voice on Vietnam, Reform (against corporal punishment in schools), anti-drug campaigns, and the Prisoners rights organisation (PRO) which she founded along with Gerry O'Callaghan and now Labour TD Joe Costello.[1][4] She was a member of the Irish Labour Party for a time, and Noel Browne's Socialist Labour Party.

She died aged 92 on 26 June 2011.[1][5]