Civil Engineer
Catherine Walshe graduated as a civil engineer from UCC in 1949, the third female to study engineering at UCC and the first woman to be honoured with the Fellowship of the Institute of Civil Engineers.
It was due to her father's persistence that she pursued the study of Engineering and this male-dominated profession, and despite the express wishes of her mother who believed her morals would be affected by the constant presence of all the men.
In her first role in the construction of the hospital in Waterford, she was the only female on the site and stresses the camaraderie amongst all of those working there at the time.
When Walshe married, she was obliged to give up working due to the marriage ban. Her husband died suddenly in 1961, aged 33, when she had 4 young children and was pregnant with her fifth.
With the help of her former colleagues, she resumed work, initially for the OPW. She also worked for Dublin County Council as an engineer, specialising in concrete road design and also working on documentation relating to the construction of the Naas dual carriageway. Her decision to change to this job was due partly to the parity of pay between the genders in the County Council but, with the enjoyment she got from this work, she began to view it as a career.
Ultimately she became the Assistant County Engineer for Cork County Council, until her retirement in 1982.
Walsh was the first female engineer to be employed in the OPW, Dublin and Cork County Councils.
For further information see:
Irish Women at Work: 1930-1960, by Elizabeth Kiely and Máire Leane, published by Irish Academic Press.
https://irishacademicpress.ie/product/irish-women-at-work-1930-1960/
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