Mary O'Shiell explained

Mary O'Shiell (1715d. after 1745), was a French shipowner and slave trader. She is a known figure in the history of Nantes, alongside her sisters Agnés O'Shiell and Anne O'Shiell.[1]

Life

She was the daughter of the Irish Jacobite Luke O'Shiell (1677-1745), who was born in Dublin but emigrated to Nantes after the Irish defeat, and Agnès Vanasse (1690-1724). The family manor of the O'Shiell, Manoir de la Placelière, became the gathering place of the large Irish colony in Nantes. She married Antoine Walsh, a leading slave trader in the slave trade of Nantes. In 1755, the O'Shiell family became ennobled.

References

  1. Éric Lhommeau et Karen Roberts, Guide du cimetière de la Bouteillerie Nantes, Nantes, Le Veilleur de nuit, 2009, 88 p. .