# Margaret Isabelle McHenry

Margaret Isabelle McHenry (née Doheny) (26 May 1860 – 26 May 1932), was an American-Canadian heiress, benefactor of the Catholic Church and president of the Catholic Women's League of Canada. The only daughter of socialite Alice Ryan and Michael Doheny, Margaret was a member of the influential Irish-Canadian Ryan family on her mother's side; including her godfather, industrialist Hugh Ryan, and uncle, railway magnate John Ryan.

## Catholic Women's League of Canada

The Catholic Women's League (CWL) was founded by Margaret Fletcher in 1906 and its Canadian offshoot, the Catholic Women's League of Canada (CWLC), was founded in 1920 by Katherine Hughes. McHenry was a founding member and received regular committee appointments starting in 1923 and then was elected treasurer in 1926. In 1928, McHenry was part of a Canadian Papal Delegation from Montreal visiting Rome, Lourdes, and Lisieuk who received a Papal blessing from Pope Pius XI.
In 1927 McHenry was elected as vice-president and was then elected president on 16 October 1930 by a majority of 300 delegates following a three day convention held in Kingston, Ontario. The election corresponded with the league's tenth annual convention and was opened by the Archbishop of Kingston Michael Joseph O'Brien. That same year, McHenry received a Papal Audience with Pope Pius XI, alongside her daughter Margaret Isabelle McDonald, in the Apostolic Palace, Vatican City.
As president, McHenry chaired the multi-day 11th Annual CWLC Conference beginning on 21 October 1931 in Prescott, Ontario, and gave the opening remarks. During the second day of the conference, leadership of the CWLC travelled by motorcade to the McHenry family compound on the St. Lawrence River where a banquet was held and described as "the most enjoyable and successful functions ever held under the auspicious of the League." A vocal supporters of Mrs. McHenry's presidency was Mrs. Grace Elliott Trudeau, wife of businessman Charles-Émile Trudeau and mother of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

## Philanthropy

McHenry was a longtime benefactor of the CWLC, which coincided with her formal roles in the League. Additionally, she was a regular donor of the Girl Guides of Canada, the national Guiding association of Canada, and provided scholarships to Catholic school students in the Walkerville Ontario School District.

## Marriage, children and family

Margaret "Maggie" Doheny married American lacrosse player turned retailer and whiskey magnate William John "W.J" McHenry on 28 October 1885 in Montreal, Quebec, at 25 years of age. The bride's cousin, Helen Margaret "Nellie" Ryan, daughter of John Ryan, acted as the maid of honour and the groom's younger brother Roderick Charles McHenry acted as the best man. The papers of the time referred to Margaret as a "prominent young lady" and often referenced William's prowess in sport prior to taking the reigns of his father's retail interests and Pennsylvania-based McHenry Whiskey Co.
The couple had three children who survived to adulthood: Alice McHenry (b.1877), named for her grandmother Alice Ryan; Charles Roderick McHenry (b.1889); and Margaret Isabelle "Babe" McHenry (b.1891), named for her mother. The family would regularly spend time in New York City, often staying for extended periods at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, before travelling to Havana, Cuba, to monitor William's businesses. They also travelled on the HMT Royal Edward ocean liner to England several times before it was repurposed during WWI. When in Canada, the family resided in a mansion constructed on the bank of the St. Lawrence River in Brockville, Ontario, which overlooked the Canadian-American boundary line into New York State, complete with servants quarters.
Margaret Isabelle "Babe" McHenry, McHenry's youngest daughter, married Alexander Joseph "A.J." McDonald, son of Donald Ronald "D.R". McDonald, Member of Provincial Parliament for Glengarry and Mayor of Cumberland, on 12 October 1920. The bride, whose fashion and jewelry choices on the day were reported on, was given away by her maternal uncle, the Honourable Hugh Doheny; as her father had passed away only a year after her birth.

## Death and funeral

Margaret McHenry died on 26 May 1932, with her funeral held at the McHenry waterfront residence on 28 May 1932. On 7 October 1932, the CWLC held it's annual conference, that year in Gananoque, Ontario, where delegates remembered their late president Mrs. McHenry in "high esteem" and offered a Requiem Mass in her honour. McHenry was interred alongside her late husband William John "W.J." McHenry at St Francis Xavier Cemetery in Brockville, Ontario.