THE IRISH REBELLION.

Clutha Leader, Volume XLII, Issue 90, 19 May 1916, Page 7

THE IRISH REBELLION.

CO UXTJSSS MARKIEWICZ. Some interesting details of the character of the Countess Markiewicz were given to a representative of the Auckland 'Star' by an Auckland gentleman who met and conversed w.th her (luring a recent visit to the County of £iigo. This Irish , woman's n&me has hgured prominently in the cables of recent date, she being the leader of the Irish rebels at tlie Itoval College of Surgeons at St, Stephen's Green, iJublin. j The countess is the eldest daughter of I the late Mr Henry William (lore-Booth, t Bart., of County Sligo. She is a. hand- . some woman, of regal bearing; and is | known over the country as being one of the most beautiful Irish women of her day. Feather-bramed and daring, she had a passionate love of horse., and, riding astride, she would leap fences that lier male escorts would be inclined to avoid. Her beautiful eyes and flaxen liair made her a prominent figure at the Dublin Court functions. Before she married she was Hon. Lady Gore-Booth, and as such was prominent in the suffrage movement. She seemed to take a delight in breaking away from the demands of convention, and judged a cause or opinion by the excitement t afforded her. In spite of her almost masculine characteristics she loved society, and was happy in a drawingroom, where her brilliancy of conversation and musical gifts made her a prominent and much-sought-after personality. Her love of horses led her to end- ! less escapades, and there were tew hunt meetings that were not marked by her presence. The mother of the countess was a niece of the ninth Earl of Scarborough—father of the present earl. It was from her motlior that the daughter inherited her beauty and love of art. The extreme love for the unusual which marked her behaviour during her girlhood did not cease when .some years ago ' she married the foreigner, Count Markiewicz. She continued to show an active interest in the cause so contrary to the wishes of her old Royalist father and was prominent a,s a woman leader. The countess' father, Sir Henry William Gore-Booth, possessed none of the fiery nature which marked the early days of his daughter, but was a quiet, unassuming man. His estate, "Lisdale," was one of the most beautiful in the west of Ireland, and he had what was judged to be the best pack of foxhounds that were followed during his hunting days. His keen love of the bounds influenced him to make it a condition in his will that the pack be maintained after his death. The present oc- , cupier of the property is Sir Jocelyn I Booth, a son of the late baronet.