Tomás Ó Flatharta

We are delighted to publish a third tribute to Cathleen O’Neill on this blog – this time written by Shalim Malekmian for the Dublin Inquirer, May 14 2025. Thanks to Therese Caherty, who drew it to our attention

“A force bigger than life itself,” said a eulogy by O’Neill’s friend Carmel Jennings. “Working-class warrior,” said Rita Fagan, another friend of O’Neill’s.

Shamim Malekmian

Link :
Remembering Cathleen O’Neill, who beat down a path for other women

A large pram is parked beside the door at 58 Amiens Street. 

In a room on the left of the entrance, a baby boy wobbles on the ground, about to crawl. 

Downstairs, toddlers play and chat with workers at the crèche in Saol Project, an education and support hub primarily for women grappling with drug addiction – but also those experiencing poverty and homelessness. 

In the kitchen, patties sizzle in a pan. Most of the kids who come to Saol are children of its service users. 

That’s what Cathleen O’Neill, its co-founder, wanted, said Paula Kearney, a training programme team leader at Saol, recently, sitting in the building’s backyard near a barbeque grill.

O’Neill wanted Saol to look after their kids so that women had time and space to recover and thrive, she said.

Two decades ago, O’Neill would bustle up and down the stairs at the old building, shows Born Bolshy, a 2002 documentary about her life by the late director Louis Lentin, saved in RTÉ’s archives.

“If you can! Alright, Mary. Thanks a million, bye, bye, bye, bye,” says O’Neill, before hanging up the phone at a tiny office in Saol.