Mary Jane Irwin O'Donovan Rossa of Clonakilty, West Cork, was an Irish nationalist and activist. Wife of Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, the renowned Fenian prisoner and agitator whose 1915 funeral ignited the Easter Uprising and ultimately led to the Republic of Ireland, Mary Jane played a more significant role in the revolutionary Fenian movement, Rossa’s release, and the planning of that historic funeral than commonly recognized. While Rossa's funeral was a major, widely reported event, Mary Jane's death in the summer of 1916 received little attention. Though Rossa is buried in Dublin's Republican Plot, Mary Jane's grave in Staten Island, NY remains largely forgotten. This film, directed by Williams Rossa Cole, Rossa’s great-grandson, serves as a companion piece to his 2016 documentary "Rebel Rossa."
