Born: 19 October 1903, United Kingdom
Died: 18 October 1966
Country most active: Ireland
Also known as: Honor Mary Boland
This biography is republished from The Dictionary of Irish Biography and was written by Frances Clarke. Shared by permission in line with Creative Commons ‘Attribution’ (CC BY) licencing.
Crowley, Honor Mary (1903–66), politician, was born 19 October 1903 in London, the eldest daughter of John Pius Boland, nationalist MP for Kerry South (1900–18) and chief whip of the Irish parliamentary party, and Eileen Boland (née Moloney) of Melbourne, Australia. As a child she spent many of her summers up to 1918 with her family in Derrynane, Co. Kerry. She probably attended the Roehampton convent in Surrey, where both her mother (later head of school) and sister Bridget were educated. Before her marriage in 1939 to the Fianna Fáil TD for Kerry South, Fredrick H. Crowley, she was engaged in social work in London. She and Crowley had no family.
After her husband’s death in May 1945 she successfully contested the ensuing by-election for Fianna Fáil, and she retained her seat at every general election up to and including 1965. Elected to Kerry county council in 1948, she was appointed its vice-chairman in 1960. As a councillor she served on the county library committee, and focused on areas of her own particular interest through her work on the health and housing committees. She played an active role in promoting local tourism through her membership of the Irish Tourist Association and the Killarney Tourist Association, Killarney Co-Ordinating Committee, Muckross Park Committee, and her directorship of Muckross House. In 1954 she became the first woman to represent Ireland on the Council of Europe; she remained on the council for three years, and in 1964 was appointed to Ireland’s council of state. At the time of her death, at her home in Dromhall, Killarney, Co. Kerry, on 18 October 1966, she was one of only five women deputies in the dáil. She was buried in Muckross Abbey. Her sister Bridget Boland had a successful career as a playwright in London’s West End.