Carmel Catherine McCaffrey
(née Costello)

Carmel Catherine McCaffrey (née Costello) died peacefully on the 23rd of February 2026 in the United States. Carmel was born on the 1st of December 1946 in Dublin to James and Vera (née Seery) Costello. She grew up in Brookwood and attended Maryfield College. Among one of her first jobs was working on the ground staff at Aer Lingus, a job she absolutely cherished and had so many happy memories of.

 

She moved to the US in December 1970, upon marrying Bernard McCaffrey, an Irish American from New York City. They first lived in New York and eventually settled in Mount Airy, Maryland, where she lived for the remainder of her life. She never stopped missing her homeland and was very proud to be Irish. She always maintained her connection to Ireland and visited frequently.

 

Carmel earned a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Maryland and a Master’s Degree from Johns Hopkins University where she wrote her thesis on James Joyce’s Ulysses.

 

In addition to working for the Irish Press years earlier, Carmel eventually became the editor at The Valley Register in Middletown, Maryland in the mid-1980s. In 1986, she founded and edited a bi-yearly Wild About Wilde newsletter centered around the life and work of Oscar Wilde. She edited and published these newsletters until 1996. Wild About Wilde had a wide international following both in readership and in contributions. In those days the post office was the main source of communication, and she would carry box loads of the latest publication to mail out to individual subscribers, bookshops, and libraries. The newsletters featured many quality contributors and remains a valuable resource in the study of Wilde’s whole body of work. Wild About Wilde had the honour of being recognised and listed by the Modern Language Association (MLA) in the International Bibliography and the Directory of Periodicals.

 

Carmel was a consultant on Irish history and was the chief historical advisor for PBS and RTÉ on a 3-part documentary series called In Search of Ancient Ireland, which was filmed entirely in Ireland. She co-authored the book to the TV series which has the same title. As a sequel she also wrote a later history – In Search of Ireland’s Heroes.

 

Carmel taught and lectured on Irish history, modern and ancient, and on Irish literary figures. She was a native Irish speaker and taught Irish language classes as well. She taught at Johns Hopkins University, Carroll Community College, and lectured at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. Towards the end of her life, she also published articles in The Irish Edition, a newspaper based in Philadelphia.

 

Carmel lived a very rich life with many interests. She was passionate about history, literature, poetry, and civil rights. She regularly supported the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC. She was a member of St. Michael’s Church and was on the vestry in St. James Church during her time spent in Mount Airy. She was a wonderful cook and was always trying new recipes from all over the world. Cooking brought her a lot of joy and she had so many recipes just in her head. She continued making the Christmas pudding and Christmas cake every year for her family.

 

She was widowed as a young mother and forever missed her beloved husband, Bernie. She was a hero to both of her children, Andrew and Ciara. She was a warm and kind mother. Carmel gave her children the most magical childhoods, spending every summer in Ireland together, always up for having fun and an adventure.

 

Carmel adored her grandchildren, Michael and Veronica, and was always thinking of ways to make life fun for them. She bought them each monster trucks to ride around the big yard of her house. They loved visiting their Granny. Carmel had a fantastic sense of humor, loved singing to her family, memorizing and reciting poetry, reading books, and writing poems for her children. She was a frequent patron at her local libraries.

 

She leaves behind her loving children, Andrew McCaffrey, Ciara Nejman (née McCaffrey), son-in-law Mark Nejman, grandchildren Michael Nejman and Veronica Nejman. She is also survived by her brother Kevin Costello, sister-in-law Alicia Costello, nephew Jamie Costello, brother Donal Costello, and good friend Jack Kinsella. She never stopped missing Ireland, and so she has been brought home for eternal rest.