Unmanageable Revolutionaries

Margaret Ward

Description

This book describes how Irish women have always played a key role in the struggle for independence. The author depicts the role women have played in the 'Irish struggle' from 1881 to the present day, particularly in the crucial post 1916 period, and in so doing underlines the irony whereby 'fellow' nationalists, despite their common struggle, remained factionalised. The author focuses on three pivotal Irish nationalist women's organisations – the Ladies Land League, Inghinidhe na hEireann and Cumann na mBan - and shows how, despite the inherent differences between the three movements, a salient theme emerges, namely the underwhelming extent to which Irish women have been recognised as a driving force in Irish political history.



Since Mary Robinson's election as president, however, a new agenda had been set in Irish politics. Irish women politicians are acquiring the profile they deserve - a trend most clearly marked by the 'feminisation' of Sinn Féin. As the Irish political climate changes almost daily, Margaret Ward's Unmanagable Revolutionaries should, therefore, be read not only as a study of past neglect, but also as a celebration and endorsement of emerging recognition of the role of women in Irish politics.
Acknowledgements

New Introduction

1. The Ladies Land League, 1881-82

2. Inghinidhe na hEireann, 1900-14

3. Cumann na mBan, 1914-16

4. Cumann na mBan, 1916-21

5. Cumann na mBan, 1921-23

6. Cumann na mBan, 1924-40

7. Conclusion

Notes

Index

Sujets

• Irlanda del Norte
• Sociology
• Northern Ireland
• Science
• Irlande du Nord

Informations

• Publié par: Pluto Press
• Date de parution: 20 novembre 1995
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783718740
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Unmanageable revolutionaries
 
 
 
Unmanageable revolutionaries
Women and Irish nationalism
Margaret Ward
 
 
 
 
First published in 1989
Reprinted with a new preface 1995
Pluto Press
345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA
Copyright © Margaret Ward 1989, 1995
The right of Margaret Ward to be identified as the author
of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library
ISBN 9780745310848 pbk
ISBN 0745310842 pbk
ISBN 9780745310855 hbk
ISBN 0745310850 hbk
ISBN 9781783718740 ePub
ISBN 9781783718757 Kindle
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from
the Library of Congress
 
Printed on Demand by Antony Rowe Ltd, Eastbourne
 
 
 
 
 
For my mother
 
 
 
Contents
Preface to the 1995 printing
Introduction
1 .
The Ladies’ Land League, 1881–82
2 .
Inghinidhe na hEireann, 1900–14
3 .
Cumann na mBan, 1914–16: The early years
4 .
Cumann na mBan, 1916–21: Years of strength
5 .
Cumann na mBan, 1921–23: Civil war
6 .
Cumann na mBan, 1924–40: The irreconcilables
7 .
Conclusion
Notes
Index
 
 
Preface to the 1995 printing
Unmanageable Revolutionaries was written thirteen years ago. A great deal has happened in Ireland since that time, and I and other researchers have subsequently discovered much more about women’s contribution to the course of Irish history. Despite this, I don’t think the argument I put forward then has been seriously challenged. My account of what took place during a century of struggle against British rule in Ireland demonstrated not only that Irish women had an important history – and one that had been largely ignored or forgotten – but also that their heroic contribution had in no sense encouraged the majority of their male comrades to recognise women as political equals. Only when women insisted upon the acceptance of their own agenda was any small progress made on their march to citizenship. However, disagreements over priorities meant that women themselves were often unable to present a united front, which meant that their impact on the overall direction of the movement was far less than it might otherwise have been.
Although I would not alter these conclusions, what I would do, if this book were to be written now, in the light of further research, would be to make more explicit the importance of those few occasions when support was given to each other by nationalist and feminist women. I think it is appropriate, given the very different circumstances we are living in (in comparison to the bleak times when I first began to research the activities of nationalist women), to use the opportunity of a new edition to outline some of that history. Now that political and military stalemate have been replaced by some optimism that there is a point to negotiation and discussion, the past efforts of women to be included in those discussions – and the absolute necessity of building a movement of mutual support – has even greater relevance than before. Those who believe knowledge of the past can contribute to a more informed understanding of the dilemmas of the present will, I hope, appreciate the importance of looking again at events which – although occurring in the early years of the century – have such important consequences for us all.
In the vital period after the 1916 Rising, while the nationalist movement slowly regrouped, all sorts of delicate negotiations were taking place behind closed doors to ensure that the movement remained united. Although the male leadership was ready to include many groups that might otherwise have caused difficulties if left on the outside, they proved to be more resistant to women’s claims for inclusion. Only after very determined action on the part of a small group of women was their demand for an equality of status at least partially accepted. It was an important time, the eve of the birth of the nation, and women were in danger of being sidelined from the real centres of power. The possible parallels with present-day events are striking.
In April 1917 a small group of women came together at the home of Countess Plunkett, mother of one of the executed leaders of the Rising. They included members of Cumann na mBan, women from the Irish Women Workers Union, former members of the Irish Citizen Army and some others who were unaligned with these groups. After her release from prison, Constance Markievicz was coopted into their ranks and a while later, on her return from America, the suffragist Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington also joined. They called themselves ‘The League of Women Delegates’, aiming to include any woman who was a member of one of the numerous nationalist groups. They later Gaelicised their name to Cumann na d’Teachtaire. 1 Many of the women at that meeting had fought in the Rising, while some were relatives of those who had signed the Proclamation of the Republic. All were determined that the promise of equal opportunity and equal citizenship contained in that Proclamation would be adhered to by those who were continuing the struggle for independence.
Aine Ceannt chaired that first meeting, the main decision of which was to write to those involved in the political reorganisation, pointing out that women were equally eligible with men to be elected as delegates. They hoped therefore that there would be a fair percentage of women elected onto the new political organisations. It was very clear that some of the most politically astute women in the nationalist movement suspected that they were being sold out, their claims to equality ignored in the political machinations then underway. An agenda was being created in which they would have no voice or influence.
Many weeks of frustration followed. The women’s letters were not replied to and eventually they were told they could join Cumann na mBan if they wanted to help the nationalist movement. However, unlike their male counterparts in the Volunteers, the women of Cumann na mBan would not be given seats on the executive of what had now become a reorganised Sinn Fein. Many of the women in Cumann na d’Teachtaire were not members of Cumann na mBan anyway, and this relegation to an auxiliary group was not what they were fighting for. Minutes of their meetings record ‘much surprise and indignation’ and ‘much surprise and dissatisfaction’ at this treatment. They were very angry. Eventually, in mid-September (five months after the group first met) an indignant deputation of women marched down to the offices of Sinn Fein. It seems unbelievable that women of the calibre of Jenny Wyse-Power, Aine Ceannt and Helena Moloney should find themselves forced into such an action. Wyse-Power had spent almost 40 years of her life working for the cause; Ceannt had been a Cumann na mBan activist since its formation and was now overcoming her grief at her husband’s execution by working for the dependents of those dead or imprisoned; Moloney had taken part in the Citizen Army attack on Dublin Castle in the first hours of the Rising and had suffered months of imprisonment as a result. The deputation was successful. Who could have rejected their plea? It was finally agreed that four ‘ladies’ would be coopted onto the Sinn Fein executive, on the understanding that none of them represented any organisation and that they were all members of a Sinn Fein branch. The stipulation that women delegates could not represent any other organisation was not a condition attached to the military men in the Volunteers. There seems to have been a real fear that a feminist caucus might otherwise develop and disrupt proceedings. This male determination to ensure that no organised faction of women would be allowed to come into existence is, I think, highly significant.
Women’s increased representation within the Sinn Fein movement had some immediate effect. Behind the scenes Dr Kathleen Lynn and Alice Ginnell, on behalf of Cumann na d’Teachtaire, had drafted a resolution on women’s equality which Dr Lynn was now able to put to the Sinn Fein executive and succeed in having it adopted as an executive resolution for the all-important Sinn Fein Convention of 1917: women’s equality within the organisation was to be affirmed in all contexts in the future. The 1917 Convention would be of enormous significance in bringing everyone together for the first time since the Rising and in formulating the policies that would guide the movement in the future. The women of Cumann na d’Teachtaire continued to meet and to plan for the Convention, in the hope that large numbers of women delegates would be attending, enabling them to organise a separate meeting which would institute an all-Ireland movement of republican women. It was a bitter disappointment to discover that only twelve women had been selected as delegates. There were an estimated one thousand in attendance at the Convention, and women were almost invisible in the crowd. There was no way in which the Dublin-based Cumann na d’Teachtaire could be broadened out into a representative and credible caucus of republican women.
The 1917 Sinn Fein Convention was a milestone in establishing the future direction of the movement that would eventually succeed in driving the British out of 26 counties of Ireland, but because of women’s lack of numbers, their participation in crucial debates was very limited. Laurence Ginnell, husband of Alice Ginnell, Cumann na d’Teachtaire secretary, spoke on the women’s behalf when he raised the question of coopting women onto the executive. As he rightly remarked ‘I am strongly of the opinion that unless this is done … the members would not co-opt any women. Certainly they would not co-opt many.’ His motion was ruled out of order. 2 One of the arguments was that there was no necessity for such a measure n