Reclaiming the Secret of Love  

Dr Ann Louise Gilligan was appointed to the staff of St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, Dublin, Ireland in 1976, and worked in the area of teacher education for over thirty years. She was Head of the Department of Religious Studies, St. Patrick’s College (1983-1989). She transferred to its Education department in 1990 where she established and directed its Educational Disadvantage Centre and lectured on philosophy of the imagination, difference and educational equality. She co-founded An Cosán, a community based lifelong learning centre in Tallaght, Dublin with Dr Katherine Zappone. She co-authored their memoirs, Our Lives Out Loud. Their public advocacy and legal case to have their Vancouver marriage recognised by Irish law was the catalyst for the passing of the referendum on marriage equality in 2015. After Ann Louise Gilligan’s death in June 2017, Dublin City University named a lecture theatre in its Institute of Education, St. Patrick’s Campus in her honour.

Dr Katherine Zappone is a human rights advocate, educator, author and former Independent Minister for Children and Youth Affairs as well as Senator in Ireland. She served as Special Envoy on Ireland’s successful bid to secure a seat at the United Nation’s Security Council. She has taught ethics, feminist theory and human rights in Trinity College Dublin and throughout Europe, Australia, Canada and the United States. She is an International Expert on the Lancet Covid-19 Commission, and an international consultant to UN agencies. Ann Louise Gilligan is her late spouse and co-changemaker.