Historical figures: Mairead Corrigan Maguire

Mairead Corrigan, later known as Mairead Corrigan Maguire when she married, was born on 27 January 1944, into a Catholic community in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She was the second of eight children.

She was in her twenties at the beginning of The Troubles, a period of conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted from 1969, until the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

In 1976 Corrigan’s niece and nephews were run over and killed by Danny Lennon, a member of the Irish Republican Army, known as the IRA. The car mounted a pavement, colliding with Mairead’s sister, Anne Maguire and three of her children.

Joanne, aged eight, and Andrew, who was six weeks old, died at the scene. Their brother John, aged two, died of his injuries in hospital the following day. Lennon was chased down and shot by a British Army patrol.

Betty Williams was a witness to the incident, and in the days that followed, she publicly condemned the violence.

Williams began gathering signatures for a peace petition from Protestants andCatholics. She assembled 200 women to march for peace in Belfast.

The march passed near the home of Mairead Corrigan, who joined it. She and Williams became the joint leaders of a spontaneous mass movement.

The Peace People was founded by Mairead Corrigan, along with Betty Williams and journalist and peace activist Ciaran McKeown shortly after the march.

It was a grass-roots movement of both Roman Catholic and Protestant citizens, dedicated to ending the sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland.

In the weeks and months that followed they organised street groups, opened an office and led marches which drew thousands of people onto the streets demanding an end to violence.

The organisation published a biweekly paper, Peace by Peace. They also provided a bus service to and from Belfast's jails for families of prisoners.

In 1977, Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams received the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize. Their efforts had achieved international recognition. Corrigan visited the White House in Washington DC in 1977 to meet US President Jimmy Carter.

The Peace People held marches in Belfast, Enniskillen and Ballymena.

One of their most high-profile rallies was in Trafalgar Square in London where more than 10,000 people demonstrated for peace, while legendary folk singer, and political activist, Joan Baez, sang the anthem 'We Shall Overcome'.

Although Williams broke away from the Peace People in 1980, Mairead remained an active member and later served as the group’s honorary president.

It has since taken on a more global agenda, addressing a range of social and political issues from around the world.

In 2006, Mairead Corrigan Maguire joined Betty Williams and fellow Nobel Peace Prize winners Shirin Ebadi, Jody Williams, Wangari Maathai, and Rigoberta Menchú to establish the Nobel Women’s Initiative.

Corrigan Maguire was also active in various Palestinian causes, notably, efforts to end the Israeli government’s blockade of the Gaza Strip. She was deported from Israel on several occasions.

In addition, she spoke out against the US led wars in Iraq (2003–11) and Afghanistan (2001–14).