Early Life
Martin was one of ten children. Her parents were strong Catholics and passionate Democratic Labor Party supporters. Her uncle, Kevin Cairns, was a Liberal minister and MP in the McMahon government, but the family was not inclined towards his conservative politics. Martin's ancestry includes the Coughlin family, which also had NSW's first female statistician and the noted test cricketer Victor Trumper. The family was originally from County Offaly, Ireland until the Cromwell invasion, then left County Cork in the 1850s just after the Potato Famine.
After attending Loreto Normanhurst, Martin graduated from the University of Sydney in 1975 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, in which her major study was Music.
Read more about this topic: Clare Martin
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