Catherine O'Leary (also known as Cate O'Leary; ca. 1827 – 3 July 1895) was an Irish immigrant living in Chicago, Illinois in the 1870s who became famous when it was alleged that an accident involving her cow had started the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
She was married to Patrick O'Leary. The couple's son, James Patrick O'Leary, grew up to run a Chicago gambling hall.
Read more about Catherine O'Leary: Chicago Fire, Death and Aftermath, Cultural References
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“The caretaking has to be done. “Somebody’s got to be the mommy.” Individually, we underestimate this need, and as a society we make inadequate provision for it. Women take up the slack, making the need invisible as we step in to fill it.”
—Mary Catherine Bateson (20th century)