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was not profitable enough to survive in 1950s rural
Wicklow, and the Gajs thereafter relocated to the more cosmopolitan Dublin. The Gajs set up a restaurant initially in Molesworth Street but then relocated to Baggot Street: As Margaret Gaj increased her political activism during the 1960s and 1970s,
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Other campaigns Gaj was involved in were Irish Voice on
Vietnam, Reform (against corporal punishment in schools), anti-drug campaigns, and the Prisoners rights organisation (PRO) which she founded along with Gerry O'Callaghan and future Labour TD
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Boneslaw Gaj died in 1975 and
Margaret Gaj retired from the restaurant business in 1980. Upon the closure of "Gaj's", she hung a notice on the door thanking her customers but noting "It's not easy to be a socialist in a capitalist society".
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in 1970. They had their meetings in her restaurant on Baggot Street every Monday. Gaj, who was 20 years older or more than most of the other activists in the IWLM, was affectionally referred to as "Mrs Gaj" or "Mother" by the other members.
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Unhappy in post-war
Britain, Margaret and Boleslaw moved to Ireland in 1948. The Gajs first settled in County Wicklow where they attempt to run a farm. However, they soon pivoted to running a cafe in
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Margaret Dunlop was born in
Scotland in 1919 to Irish parents. From an early age, she had an interest in politics and as a teenager she became a member of the
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56:. During her time as a nurse she met a Polish soldier, Boleslaw Gaj, and they married. He was working as an electrician with the
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111:, but was considered to be on the radical left of the party. Gaj took pride when a November 1976 article in the
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along with other progressive and left-wing activists. Gaj was one of the five founding members of the
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79:. Both the Gajs became Irish citizens in 1951. Although popular, a cafe serving
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the restaurant became famous as a meeting place for Irish left-wing activists.
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left the Labour party in 1977, she followed him into the short-lived
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Mondays at Gaj's: the story of the Irish Women's
Liberation Movement
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During the 1960s and early 1970s Gaj was a member of the Irish
169:"The matriarch who served up stew and social progress"
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Occasions of Sin: Sex and
Society in Modern Ireland
117:described her as an "'awful subversive". When
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87:In the 1960s Margaret became involved in the
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290:Restaurant owner and left-wing campaigner
140:The Gajs had two sons; Wladek and Tadek.
33:restaurant owner and political activist.
29:, 28 January 1919 – 26 June 2011) was a
280:Irish Independent, Sunday July 03 2011.
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16:Restaurant owner and political activist
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339:Labour Party (Ireland) politicians
128:She died aged 92 on 26 June 2011.
60:, having previously served in the
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93:Irish Women's Liberation Movement
89:Dublin Housing Action Committee
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344:Scottish emigrants to Ireland
212:Dictionary of Irish Biography
48:As a pacifist she joined the
207:"Gaj, Margaret (née Dunlop)"
205:Linde, Lunney (June 2017).
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334:Irish socialist feminists
292:Irish Times, 2 July 2011.
68:until France too fell to
319:Irish anti-war activists
43:Independent Labour Party
278:Margaret Gaj - Obituary
123:Socialist Labour Party
52:as a nurse during the
260:. Profile Books, 2010
324:Irish businesspeople
236:. Liffey Press, 2006
64:after escaping from
254:Ferriter, Diarmuid
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62:French Air Force
54:Second World War
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329:Irish pacifists
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232:Stopper, Anne.
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81:Polish cuisine
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216:. Retrieved
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109:Labour Party
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102:Joe Costello
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70:Nazi Germany
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27: Dunlop
20:Margaret Gaj
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314:2011 deaths
309:1919 births
173:independent
119:Noel Browne
114:Irish Times
77:Baltinglass
303:Categories
266:1847652581
242:1904148948
144:References
50:Red Cross
268:(p.441).
218:11 March
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244:(p.10)
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66:Poland
31:Dublin
262:ISBN
238:ISBN
220:2023
37:Life
58:RAF
25:née
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