1. Mariella Norma Borthwick was a British artist and writer and an Irish language activist.
15 Facts About Norma Borthwick
1. 2.
Mariella Norma Borthwick was born in Highfield, Higher Bebington, Chester, on 25 July 1862.
3.
Norma Borthwick was one of five daughters and three sons of the merchant George Borthwick, and Mary Elizabeth Borthwick.
4.
Norma Borthwick became involved in the language movement in London and Dublin, visiting the west of Ireland and the Aran Islands regularly.
5.
In January 1895, Norma Borthwick joined the Gaelic League in London, and while living on Markham Square, Chelsea acted as its treasurer.
6.
Norma Borthwick won a prize for her essay, Bri na teanga i gcuis na naisiuntachta, at the inaugural Oireachtas na Gaeilge in 1897, under the pseudonym "Aodh Rua".
7.
From May to December 1898 Norma Borthwick served on the central council of the Gaelic League as secretary, and became a member of the executive council in 1899.
8.
Norma Borthwick was the chairman of the new Gaelic League branch in Drumcondra, Dublin in 1900.
9.
Norma Borthwick assisted Eoin MacNeill in the publication of An Claidheamh Soluis, going on to write a series in Irish for St Patrick's magazine from 1900 to 1903, under the name "Fear na Mona".
10.
Norma Borthwick founded the Irish Book Company with Mairead Ni Raghallaigh, which initially operated from O'Connell Street, and later Eccles Street in Dublin.
11.
Norma Borthwick published Father Peadar Ua Laoghaire's, with Borthwick preparing a dictionary for the book.
12.
Norma Borthwick was later named as one of literary executors.
13.
Norma Borthwick was an acquaintance of Lady Gregory, staying at her house at Coole and teaching Gregory and local English-speakers Irish.
14.
Norma Borthwick taught Irish in the Dominican convent on Eccles Street, and was a private Irish tutor to numerous wealthy families.
15.
Norma Borthwick left Ireland in 1919 to live with her sister Grace Hay Norma Borthwick, due to her own declining health.