Rita Kelly Mullan

Rita Kelly Mullan passed away on November 11, 2009 after a long battle with cancer. She is survived by her son Brendan, his wife and their three children, her daughter Bronagh, her husband and child and two brothers and three sisters. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1940, Rita spent her early years as a nurse at the Royal Victoria Hospital and as a government outreach nurse. After emigrating to the U.S. in 1976, Rita worked as a nurse in Little Rock, AR and a nursing consultant in Washington, DC.

After leaving nursing, Rita started a nonprofit organization for human rights in Northern Ireland, the Irish National Caucus. The organization lobbied the U.S. government to recognize the Irish issue and succeeded in spotlighting the issue in the U.S. She received the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights, was named one of the Top 100 Peacemakers by Irish America Magazine, and testified numerous times before the U.S. Congress on the issue of human rights in Northern Ireland. Rita became an American citizen in 1996 and retired shortly thereafter.

Rita spent the last several years of her life living on the coast of Oregon enjoying her garden and family.

Ar dheis De go raibh a hanam.