A critical element to the success of the Rising, and subsequently Ireland’s independence, was the involvement of Irish women. The brave girls and women of the nationalist movement served their country in a variety of ways. Some, such as Constance Markievicz, served with the Irish Citizen Army. [2] Others served with the Cumann na mBan, which was related to the Irish Volunteers. The women of these groups and others contributed significantly to the Rising by doing the dangerous work of fighting (when allowed), delivering messages, food, and ammunition, and working as Red Cross nurses. [3]
Photograph, Joseph McGarrity and Countess Markievicz. 1922. [Digital Library]
Connolly, Nora. “How Molly McLoughlin Was Treated by British Officers.” The Clan-na-Gael Journal, No. 30, October 22, 1916. Philadelphia: Clan-na-Gael, 1916, 2. [Digital Library]
The women of the Rising were involved in some of the most critical moments of Easter Week. According to James Connolly’s daughter, Nora, some of the girls who participated in the Rising were among the first to review the Proclamation before Pearse delivered it on the initial day of the Rising. [4] Likewise, when surrender finally became a necessity, it was a woman who was entrusted with the task of delivering the surrender message. [5] Even after the Rising had concluded, Irish nationalist women continued to work on Ireland’s behalf as the nation tried to gain independence. Foremost among these women was Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, whose husband was executed by the British during Easter Week. [6] After the Rising, Hanna traveled to America to tell of the injustice of her husband’s death, and to ask for America’s help. [7] Mrs. Agnes Newman, Roger Casement’s sister, also spoke to the American people on behalf of the Irish, and her deceased brother. [8]
Skinnider, Margaret. Doing My Bit for Ireland. New York: The Century Co., 1917. [Internet Archives]
“Irish Women’s Plea for National Independence,” The Gaelic American - Vol. XV, No. 3, January 19, 1918, Whole Number 749. New York [N.Y.] : Gaelic American Pub. Co, 1918, 1. [Digital Library]
“Mrs. Skeffington’s Speech,” The Gaelic American - Vol. XV, No. 23, June 8, 1918, Whole Number 769. New York [N.Y.] : Gaelic American Pub. Co, 1918, 3. [Digital Library]
McGarrity, Joseph. Sketch, Profile of Agnes Casement (Mrs Newman), By Joseph McGarrity, March 13, 1924. 1924. [Digital Library]
1. Adapted from. Brian Ó Huiginn, The Soldier’s Story of Easter Week ([Dublin]: Brian O’Higgins, “Stormanstown,” Glasnevin, Dublin, 1925), 42-43.
2. 1916 Rebellion Handbook (Dublin: Mourne River Press, 1998), 277-278.
3. Nora Connolly, “How Molly McLoughlin Was Treated by British Officers,” The Clan-na-Gael Journal, No. 30, October 22, 1916 (Philadelphia: Clan-na-Gael, 1916), 2, http://digital.library.villanova.edu/Item/vudl:281977; Linda Kearns, In Times of Peril: Leaves from the Diary of Nurse Linda Kearns from Easter week, 1916, to Mountjoy, 1921, ed. Annie M. P. Smithson (Dublin: The Talbot Press Limited, London: T. Fisher Unwin Limited, 1922), 7; Fearghal McGarry, The Rising: Ireland: Easter 1916 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 161-163.
4. Nora Connolly, The Unbroken Tradition (New York: Boni and Liveright, 1918), 101.
5. Brian O’Higgins, The Soldier’s Story of Easter Week: Poems of 191; Prison Letters, 1917-20, of Brian O’Higgins (Hitherto Unpublished); with Sketches of the Leaders by Liam C. Martin (Dublin: Brian O’Higgins, 1966), 84-88.
6. The Irish Times, Sinn Fein Rebellion Handbook, Easter 1916, 218.
7. “Mrs. Skeffington’s Speech,” The Gaelic American - Vol. XV, No. 23, June 8, 1918, Whole Number 769 (New York [N.Y.]: Gaelic American Pub. Co, 1918), 3, http://digital.library.villanova.edu/Item/vudl:336240.
8. “Irish Women’s Plea for National Independence,” The Gaelic American - Vol. XV, No. 3, January 19, 1918, Whole Number 749 (New York: Gaelic American Pub. Co, 1918), http://digital.library.villanova.edu/Item/vudl:326441; “Mrs. Skeffington’s Speech,” The Gaelic American - Vol. XV, No. 23, June 8, 1918, Whole Number 769 (New York: Gaelic American Pub. Co, 1918), 3, http://digital.library.villanova.edu/Item/vudl:336240.
Kearns, Linda. In Times of Peril: Leaves from the Diary of Nurse Linda Kearns from Easter week, 1916, to Mountjoy, 1921. Dublin: London: The Talbot Press, 1922. [Digital Library]
