Mary O'Rourke was a Fianna Fáil TD for almost three decades, held a variety of cabinet posts, and served as deputy party leader and leader of the Seanad.
The foundations of her long career were a decade in local politics, and belonging to party royalty - she came from the Lenihan political dynasty.
Her father, PJ Lenihan, was a TD for Longford-Westmeath, first under under Seán Lemass and then Jack Lynch.
PJ owned a sweeping 145-acre protected peninsula, Yewpoint, on the shores of Lough Ree.
She and her brother Brian Lenihan - a senior government minister and tánaiste - were the first siblings to serve in cabinet.
Before entering politics, Mary had worked as a teacher.
At her living room table, she had given Latin grinds to her nephew, the future Trinity scholar and minister for finance Brian Lenihan.
She later supported Lenihan's challenge to Brian Cowen during the latter's troubled tenure as Taoiseach.
One observer characterised O'Rourke's demeanour as that of a domineering schoolmistress, upbraiding opponents as if they were unruly children.
Others more affectionately referred to her as the 'mammy of the Dáil'.
Read more: Former minister Mary O'Rourke dies aged 87
She was quick to laugh - and to provoke one too - often at an adversary's expense.
Her style was as entertaining for onlookers as it was infuriating for the targets of her ire.
Former president Mary McAleese said of Mary O'Rourke, that when you meet her "your heart lifts", and you come away feeling "encouraged and entertained".
And when it came to the party rank and file, Ray MacSharry, former tánaiste and commissioner for agriculture, was clear.
"Mary O'Rourke was the absolute queen of the grassroots. She never lost contact with ordinary people as some ministers do," he wrote.
In 1987 she landed her first cabinet post, serving as minister for education under Charlie Haughey.
She oversaw unpopular cutbacks which she pressed with characteristic determination.
O'Rourke mounted an unsuccessful leadership bid, losing her cabinet post when Albert Reynolds won.
However Reynolds kept her on as a Minister of State, first for labour affairs, followed by trade and marketing.
After Fianna Fáil's short spell on the opposition benches, her fortunes recovered - temporarily, as it transpired - when Bertie Ahern took the seal of office in 1997.
He appointed her deputy leader of the party, and minister for public enterprise.
In March 2000, Mary O'Rourke caused widespread amusement by revealing that she was "in the bath" when she learned on RTÉ's Morning Ireland of the sudden resignation of the CIÉ chairman, Brian Joyce.
Hearing the surprise announcement on the 7am bulletin meant she was not blindsided when she faced Joyce an hour later for a scheduled meeting.
As minister, she pushed the privatisation of Telecom Éireann.
Many people bought shares for the first time, anticipating a quick windfall, and were burned when the share price collapsed.
O'Rourke subsequently lost her seat for the first and only time.
Mary O'Rourke got her start in politics when she was elected to Athlone Urban District Council in 1974.
Five years later, she secured a seat on Westmeath County Council, followed by a seat in the Seanad.
She held both local authority seats until she entered the cabinet in 1987.
While she worked in local politics, O'Rourke continued to teach full-time at Summerhill College in Athlone.
In her Memoir, 'Just Mary', she recounted fondly her friendship with her housekeeper, Pearl Samuels, who worked with O'Rourke for almost two decades.
O'Rourke's husband, Enda, a retired businessman, died in 2001.
Mary O'Rourke recalled how "bereft" she felt, and "lonely", after her husband passed away. She struggled with no longer being able to share her burdens with him.
Early on in her Oireachtas career, Enda had insisted she stop her daily commute to Dublin.
He would look after their two boys, acting as "Mum and Dad during the week", and give Mary the space she needed to focus on her career.
In her memoir, O'Rourke said she was grateful for having such a "modern" partner.
She also wrote an open letter to Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who had recently lost her husband.
(She also suggested that the title of Sandberg's book, 'Lean In', was a bit weak, and suggested 'Jump In' instead.)
Mary and Enda had two sons, Aengus and Feargal, and six grandchildren.
Aengus O'Rourke has served as mayor of Athlone.
Feargal is chairman of IDA Ireland and the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) and has been a frequent commentator on foreign direct investment.
After leaving politics, Mary O'Rourke continued to vigorously participate in public discourse, writing a newspaper column and giving regular interviews.
She published her memoir and wrote book reviews, saying of the former that it was "like having a baby".
After Fianna Fáil's poor performance at the Dublin Bay South by-election in 2021, she warned that the party faced oblivion if it did not tackle the root causes of its vanishing popularity.
She also recently suggested that Dublin Airport be renamed after Seán Lemass - under whom her father had served - to mark the 50th anniversary of his death.
