Name Maeve Hillery | Role Patrick Hillery's wife | |
Died January 10, 2015, Dublin, Republic of Ireland Spouse Patrick Hillery (m. 1955–2008) | ||
Mary Beatrice (Maeve) Hillery (nee Finnegan; c. 1924 – 10 January 2015) was an Irish anaesthetist and wife of Patrick Hillery, who was President of Ireland from 1976 to 1990.
Maeve Finnegan was educated at University College Dublin where she studied medicine. It was here that she met her future husband, Patrick Hillery, who was also studying medicine. The couple married on 27 October 1955. Together they had a son, John, and a daughter, Vivienne, who died after a long illness in 1985, shortly before her eighteenth birthday. Patrick later served in a number of political roles, including Foreign Minister and European Commissioner. After the completion of his term as EC Commissioner in 1976, he contemplated leaving politics and returning to medicine. Instead, Hillery was asked to become the sixth President of Ireland. Patrick died on 12 April 2008. She died in Dublin on 10 January 2015.