# Hilary Boyle

Hilary Joyce Boyle (née Thompson; 25 October 1899 – 21 October 1988) was a journalist, broadcaster, and activist.

## Biography

Born on 25 October 1899 in London, she was the second child of Winifred Helen Thompson (née Hopkins) and Gerald Alexander Thompson, vicar of St Gregory's church, Canterbury, and canon of Canterbury Cathedral. Boyle received her education in an all-girls school in South London. In 1921 she married a British Army officer, Lt-Col. Charles Leofric Boyle and through his postings spent time in Ireland, Jamaica, Malta and India between 1925 and 1935.
Boyle moved back to England from India and subsequently settled in Ireland. She separated from her husband in 1935 and they finally divorced in 1950 and her husband married again. They had four daughters and eventually she was estranged from them also. She lived in Ballsbridge and later Cabinteely for most of her life in Ireland.
Boyle became a Roman Catholic but later left it to join the Communist Party of Ireland. She was involved in a number of activist activities including the Dublin Housing Action Committee and the anti-Vietnam-war campaign. She ensured that she marched both north and south of the border on various protests. She was involved in the Irish anti-apartheid movement and homeless work.
Boyle also wrote for the Woman's Way magazine as a gardening editor as well as various other articles. She also wrote to the Irish Times letters page and for Radio Éireann's Sunday Miscellany. Boyle was a guest of the Late Late Show more than once. Boyle wrote Every Common Bush. A Book of Flower Legends for Children which was published in 1947. Boyle died on 21 October 1988 in the Arras retirement home, Bray.

## References and sources

* 1 2 3 4 O'Riordan, Turlough (2009). "Boyle, Hilary". In McGuire, James; Quinn, James (eds.). Dictionary of Irish Biography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* ↑ "Hilary Boyle letter to Priontios D. Ó Scannlain" (PDF).
* 1 2 Deane, S.; Bourke, A.; Carpenter, A.; Williams, J. (2002). The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing. The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing. New York University Press. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-8147-9907-9. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
* ↑ "From force to fencing: political policing in the Republic of Ireland". Workers Solidarity Movement | Anarchist organisation in Ireland. 18 January 1969. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
* ↑ Ferriter, D. (2012). Ambiguous Republic: Ireland in the 1970s. Profile. p. 114. ISBN 978-1-84765-856-2. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
* ↑ Murray, T. (2016). Contesting Economic and Social Rights in Ireland: Constitution, State and Society, 1848â€"2016. Cambridge Studies in Law and Society. Cambridge University Press. p. 307. ISBN 978-1-107-15535-0. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
* ↑ "University of Delaware: KAY BOYLE PAPERS RELATING TO RESEARCH ON IRISH WOMEN". lib.udel.edu. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
* ↑ "Engineering his own demise may have been De Klerk's big success". The Irish Times. 21 March 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
* ↑ Buckley, Dan (4 November 2019). "It started on the Late Late Show: Gaybo's most controversial moments". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
* ↑ Boyle, H.C.J. (1947). Every Common Bush. A Book of Flower Legends for Children ... Illustrations by Caryll Homelander. London. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
* ↑ "Photographic Archive". RTÉ Archives . 5 July 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2020.