The Changemakers: Cork champion of the underdog, Maureen Curtis Black

Her long fight and constant focus on institutional and legislative inequality meant she had her detractors. A 1976 newspaper profile noted while she was nothing short of a saviour to some, to others, she was a nuisance and an agitator who demanded answers to awkward questions.

One of the awkward questions she asked, again and again, was why widows were treated so poorly. The extent of widows’ difficulties became clear when thousands flocked to the mass meetings Black organised in the late 1960s.

At the time, a widow with five children was entitled to an allowance that was a little less than the weekly wages of a 15-year-old junior postman.

As a widow herself — husband Jack died when her son Brian was still an infant — the issue had personal resonance and, in 1969, Black set up the Cork Widows’ Association.

Another problem soon became apparent: The impenetrable layer of bureaucracy that kept a widow from her small pension. McAvoy explains: “The department might take months to reply to simple queries regarding pension rights and often the only way to make progress was to approach local TDs. An advice centre was set up… and women were urged to take their problems to the top, to the taoiseach if necessary.”

The foundations for the first Citizens’ Advice Bureau had been laid. It opened its doors in Cork in 1972 and, within a short period of time, was dealing with thousands of queries a year.

Maureen Curtis Black was born in Cork’s Grand Parade into a family “well-known in local politics, music, and sport”, as she described it in her own literature when she stood as an independent candidate in the 1977 election, securing 1,525 first-preference votes.

“Father: Pat Curtis, c. 30 years on Corporation, twice Lord Mayor Elect of Cork,” she continued. “Uncle: Prof. ‘Tonny’ Curtis taught music in all boys schools in Cork; cousin Bernard Curtis, 40 years Director School of Music. Brother: Brian ‘Pogo’ Curtis, three international caps swimming, hockey, cricket, rugby Dolphin senior team.”

Black herself went to University College Cork (UCC) and graduated with an honours degree in French and English in 1933. She later qualified as a teacher and went to England to find work where she taught modern languages (French, German and Spanish) for many years.

She met her husband Jack in Sheffield and their son Brian was born there.

Then, the unthinkable happened and she found herself widowed with a young baby. In the years that followed, she chose posts that she thought would give her child the best start in life.

“She took a teaching post in Westcliff-on-Sea because she felt that the seaside would be an ideal place for a toddler,” says McAvoy.

Later, Black moved to Leicester so her son could attend his late father’s school and, in 1965, she moved back to her native Cork when he enrolled at UCC.

By then, she was 51 and had ‘retired’, although her work here was only beginning.

“When she returned to Ireland in the ’60s, she saw with fresh eyes the difficulties facing individuals, groups and societies… and she was not intimidated by the system, nor by any organisation or individual,” former professor of zoology Maire Mulcahy said in one of many tributes after Black’s death.

The experience she had gained outside of Ireland meant Black knew things could be done differently and she used her “needle-sharp mind” to bring about change, says McAvoy.

While Black later said she considered her work in developing the Citizens’ Advice Bureau as the most important, she was active in many other areas. She was interested in the environment and was chair of the Cork Amenity Council for two years.

She was president of the Cork Federation of Women’s Organisations and, in interviews, made a point of outlining the legislation that had made women “second-class citizens” in Ireland.

It was summed up pithily in one 1990 interview: “Until 1957 a married woman was a ‘child in law’ — ranked with infants and the insane — and her husband’s chattel. She had no rights in the guardianship of her children until 1964, no right to inherit any part of her husband’s estate until 1967. Until 1973 there was a ban on her remaining in State employment after marriage.”

Black was also keenly interested in education. She was national secretary of the Irish Federation of University Women and ran for chancellorship of the National University in 1977. She was runner-up in a tight election.

She pushed another boundary when, in 1993, she became the first Corkwoman to be awarded the freedom of her native city.

The council listed many of her achievements in its citation; proof that she was a woman who “did not live life to the full, but to overflowing”, to quote Prof Mulcahy.

It is hard to cover all of her titles and her many honours, but journalist Maureen Fox perhaps best captured her legacy when she wrote: “Maureen Black was the one who always fought for the underdog, she was unafraid, outspoken and determined on their behalf — and this work she did can never be quantified.”