McCaffrey died in the early hours of this morning at a nursing home in Co Donegal, it was confirmed.
Having been a founding member of the Irish Women's Liberation Movement, Nell McCaffrey was outspoken about women's rights, the poor and for people who have suffered injustice. This movement was founded in 1970.
In 1971, Nell McCaffrey was also part of a group of women who travelled from Dublin to Belfast on the so-called "contraceptive train" to buy contraceptives, defying Dublin customs by illegally bringing these contraceptives past the Connolly Station barrier, which was a landmark moment.
McCaffrey also worked for several media outlets including The Irish Times, Hot Press, and The Sunday Tribune. She also was a regular panellist on radio and TV programmes. Such shows included Women Today.
She was a key player in campaigns and issues which received national and international attention which included Bloody Sunday, the Kerry Babies cases, as well as sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church.
Nell McCaffrey was in a relationship with writer Nuala O'Faolain for more than 15 years until their separation. She died in 2008.
Tributes were also paid to McCaffrey, including Taoiseach Simon Harris, who called her a "fierce, fearless and fiery" campaigner, "who suffered no fools".
