This biography is republished from The Dictionary of Irish Biography and was written by Linde Lunney and Frances Clarke. Shared by permission in line with Creative Commons ‘Attribution’ (CC BY) licencing.
Born: 28 January 1868, United Kingdom
Died: 14 January 1939
Country most active: United Kingdom
Also known as: NA
Cunningham, Mary Elizabeth (1868–1939), philanthropist and war worker, was born 28 January 1868 in Glencairn, Belfast, Co. Antrim, the fourth child of Josias Cunningham, a prosperous stockbroker, and Jane Agnes (Davis) Cunningham, both of Belfast, who eventually had four sons and seven daughters. Mary Cunningham was educated at schools in Belfast and Edinburgh and afterwards took an active interest in educational and social services in Belfast. From 1895 to 1927 she acted as a voluntary manager, under the National School Board in Belfast, of the Forth River School. Like her sister Sarah Catherine (‘Lallie’) Cunningham (1873–1937), she came to prominence during the First World War, when she participated in many branches of war work in Belfast. In 1914 she founded the Belfast Free Buffets, which met the wounded on arrival in the city centre with refreshments. She subsequently founded and managed the Torpedoed Crews Fund for the relief of the shipwrecked and worked with the Welcome Home Fund, of which she acted as joint president, honorary secretary, and treasurer. She served with the St John Ambulance, being appointed demonstrator in 1916, and also commanded a unit of the Voluntary Aid Detachment. Throughout the conflict she raised thousands of pounds for the war effort. In recognition of these services she was awarded a CBE in 1920. A fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Cunningham was also a life member of the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society. She died, unmarried, after a prolonged illness, 14 January 1939, in the home of her sister at Silver Springs, Templepatrick, Co. Antrim.