Máire Moran was born in Church Street, Enniscorthy, the fourth of a family of six. Her entire family was actively involved in the republican movement. Her father, and two brothers Seán and Liam were active members of the Irish Volunteers, and her sisters Sighle and two younger sisters Biddy and Kathleen joined Cumann na mBan. Máire’s father had a tailor’s business in Church Street, which was regularly used as a meeting place and as a message drop centre by the Volunteers, while the basement doubled as a storage depot for guns and ammunition. Máire was one of the founding members of the Enniscorthy branch of Cumann na mBan in 1914 and regularly gave lectures and held first aid classes in the lead-up to 1916. During the Rising in Enniscorthy, she worked as a dispatch carrier, while her two younger sisters worked in the emergency hospital in the Athenaeum. Sighle’s house was used as a rest centre.
