The Revolutionary Life of Mary Spring Rice

By Maude Doyle

The Revolutionary Life of Mary Spring Rice

Born into the Anglo-Irish aristocracy in 1880, Mary Ellen Spring Rice seemed destined for a life of privilege within the British Empire. But growing up beside Ireland's River Shannon, surrounded by Irish-speaking servants and taught the native language by local teachers, she began a transformation that would reshape her identity and redirect her life toward revolution.

Told in her own voice, The River Between Worlds follows Mary's extraordinary journey from cultural nationalist to active revolutionary. She becomes a leader in the Gaelic League and United Irishwomen, helps plan and execute the famous Howth gun-running of 1914, and transforms her family estate into a crucial safe house during the War of Independence. Working alongside figures like Michael Collins and Erskine Childers, she moves from teaching Irish classes to importing weapons, from organizing women's cooperatives to facilitating assassinations.

But revolution exacts a terrible price. The civil war that follows independence forces Mary to choose between former comrades, while the tuberculosis she contracts through years of underground work ultimately drives her into exile. As Ireland tears itself apart, she confronts the devastating realization that the methods used to achieve freedom may have corrupted the very ideals they were meant to serve.

A powerful meditation on identity, sacrifice, and the true cost of political transformation.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FRZ476PD
• ISBN13: 9798266364486
• Release Date: September 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 184 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"