US Vice President honours Duleek's Kate Kennedy in Washington speech

US Vice President Kamala Harris mentioned Duleek's Kate Kennedy in Washington when she met Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, during the St Patrick's celebrations.

It came just a week after the US Ambassador to Ireland, Claire D Cronin unveiled a bust to celebrate the extraordinary achievements of the local woman who entered the history books towards the end of the 19th century when her persistent agitation eventually persuaded the San Francisco Board of Education to introduce equal pay for equal work.

Kamala Harris is from Oakland where Kate Kennedy lived and died.

The vice president recalled that in the mid-19th century, thousands of Irish immigrants made their way to California during the Gold Rush.

"One of my favourite stories is of Kate Kennedy. Originally from County Meath, she led the Equal Pay for Equal Work campaign in 1874 in California. And, of course, just this week — or last week — we here in the United States celebrated Equal Pay Day," she said.

"And as many of you know, most of my career I spent in San Francisco, which has a long and strong pride in its Irish roots. And — and I will say that the Irish and the immigrants who came generations ago have shaped the history and the culture of the United States."

Kate Kennedy was honoured in her native Duleek on International Womens Day a week earlier, with the unveiling of a bus tin her honour.

The bust was designed by County Meath sculptor Betty Newman-Maguire from Carnaross.

Kate Kennedy was a game changer for women. She achieved equal pay for equal work in 1874, was the first female to run for public office in California and won a landmark court case that set the legal precedent for determining when teachers could and could not be dismissed from their positions.

“She was years ahead of her time and yet her achievements were practically unknown in Ireland until recently,” said local journalist, Ken Murray.

Born in in the townland of Gaskinstown, west of Duleek in 1827, Kate Kennedy attended the local national school followed by a brief spell at Loreto College in Navan County Meath before emigrating to San Francisco in early 1856.

Having secured a position as a principal teacher at North Cosmopolitan Grammar School in San Francisco in 1867, she learned some years later that male principals were paid more than females. After intense and persistent lobbying, she eventually persuaded the California State legislature to change the law in 1874 and the legal precedent of equal pay for equal work was established in law.

According to Ken Murray, this event will not be the last public display of respect for Kate Kennedy.

“We hope to unveil a large sculpture in Duleek village in the coming years. However these things are expensive and we’ve just launched a Kate Kennedy gofundme page to try and secure €60,000 to make it happen in the years to come,” he said.

“We are also talking to An Post and are confident that a stamp in her honour will be issued in 2025.”