Margaret Pender was a Belfast-based Irish writer whose fiction and poetry appeared regularly in the nationalist press.
13 Facts About Margaret Pender
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Margaret Pender was born Margaret Teresa Doherty in 1848 or 1850 in the townland of Ballytweedy, near Templepatrick in County Antrim.
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Margaret Pender's parents were farmer, Daniel, and Margaret Doherty.
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Margaret Pender's father was from a poor Catholic background, and her mother was a wealthier Presbyterian who disowned her after her marriage.
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Margaret Pender was the youngest daughter of the couple's 7 children.
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Margaret Pender trained to be a teacher, and taught for a short time in Aghagallon.
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Margaret Pender married Hugh Owen Pender, a printer, in 1869 and moved to Belfast.
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Margaret Pender was published in the Shamrock, the Belfast Morning News, The Shan van Vocht, The Nation and United Ireland, winning a number of poetry competitions.
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Margaret Pender wrote serialised novels and short stories which usually had Irish nationalistic tones, that were published in Irish, American, and Australian press.
10.
Margaret Pender supported nationalist politics in her writing but in activism.
11.
Margaret Pender was a prominent supporter of Joseph Devlin, and was elected president of the Belfast branch of the Irish Women's Association, succeeding Alice Milligan.
12.
Margaret Pender died at her home 7 Newington Street, Belfast, on 17 March 1920.
13.
Margaret Pender had three daughter and two sons, with one son, Justin, a published poet.