"Maggie Burke was born in a thatched cottage in Caltra, Headford, to parents Patrick and Mary Burke in 1887.
In 1913 Maggie left Ireland to travel to St. Petersburg in Russia to teach English. She journeyed alone by boat and train across Europe to Russia via Poland, where she was forced to stop her journey due to fighting during the First World War. When it became safer to travel she continued her journey to Russia. She became a private English tutor to the children of a Russian aristocratic family in the circle of the Russian Tsars.
In 1917 the Russian Revolution began and Maggie had to flee with the family. Together they tried to get to the Black Sea, where they could get boats out of Russia, but the father was captured and taken away by the Red Army. His wife decided to go in search of him, leaving Maggie as sole carer of 'Olga', their daughter. Maggie and Olga spent four years trapped in the Ural Mountains, under the newly formed Communist Government and was consigned to live in one room with food shortages and no contact with the outside world. She wrote letters home continually and to former Russian friends. One morning a family friend discovered them and Olga was reunited with her mother. Maggie continued her journey, as in order to leave Russia she had to travel via Moscow to meet Lenin as he had to sign her travel documents. Finally in 1921, Maggie Burke returned home."
Below are scans of the Irish Independent from August 1937, containing articles by Margaret Burke, describing events in Russia at the time.
To download the file to read later, right click here and save it to your device.
In 1913 Maggie left Ireland to travel to St. Petersburg in Russia to teach English. She journeyed alone by boat and train across Europe to Russia via Poland, where she was forced to stop her journey due to fighting during the First World War. When it became safer to travel she continued her journey to Russia. She became a private English tutor to the children of a Russian aristocratic family in the circle of the Russian Tsars.
In 1917 the Russian Revolution began and Maggie had to flee with the family. Together they tried to get to the Black Sea, where they could get boats out of Russia, but the father was captured and taken away by the Red Army. His wife decided to go in search of him, leaving Maggie as sole carer of 'Olga', their daughter. Maggie and Olga spent four years trapped in the Ural Mountains, under the newly formed Communist Government and was consigned to live in one room with food shortages and no contact with the outside world. She wrote letters home continually and to former Russian friends. One morning a family friend discovered them and Olga was reunited with her mother. Maggie continued her journey, as in order to leave Russia she had to travel via Moscow to meet Lenin as he had to sign her travel documents. Finally in 1921, Maggie Burke returned home."
Below are scans of the Irish Independent from August 1937, containing articles by Margaret Burke, describing events in Russia at the time.
To download the file to read later, right click here and save it to your device.
