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Feminism and it's part in the 1916 Easter Rising

A study of the feminist call to action from Countess Constance Markievicz prior to the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland

By Juliet WilkinsonPublished 2 years ago 3 min read
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Countess Constance Markievicz

The Easter Rising of 1916 saw the fusion of Irish Cultural Nationalism and the Irish Political Independence movement. True to the Gaelic Revival of the period, mythology, ideas and imagery of Irelands ancient past were utilized by participants of the Rising in order to garner support for their cause - at a time when the Irish people's consistent disillusion with British rule was rising in momentum.

Additionally, many participants supported other socio-political movements at the time, and were able to relate ancient Irish history to these causes, as a means of evoking support for insurrection. If we look specifically at perspective of Easter Rising participant Countess Constance Markievicz (1868 - 1927), a prominent socialist politician and suffragette (and the first woman to be appointed as an MP, although as a true Sinn Fein Nationalist she never took her seat), we can identify a call to arms for the Irish cause through her appealing to the feminist movement of the time. Born in Sligo in 1886 and from an Anglo-Irish, wealthy background, Constance was a true 'Woman of the People', and although she was sentenced to death for her part in the 1916 Rising, she was later granted a reprieve and released on account of her gender. She is renowned as having stated to her captors: "I do wish your lot had the decency to shoot me". When the 1922 Anglo-Irish treaty was signed, Constance, in opposition to the agreement, walked out of local government. She was imprisoned during the following Irish Civil War and went on hunger strike before eventually being released, probably due, again, to her gender.

In her speech ‘The future of Irishwomen’ (Documented in 'The Irish Citizen' newspaper in 1915), she uses imagery and mythology from ancient Ireland to incentivize women to take action: “Ancient Ireland bred warrior women, and women played a heroic part in those days”. This appeals directly to the demonstrative suffragette movement of the time, and instills the collective memory of a grand, strong, ancient Irish womanhood. It is a call for women to be heroes in the early 20th century, as they were in ancient times, and thus be warriors once again against the current oppressors.

The independence and courage of ancient Ireland's women further serves as a motivator to those involved in women's rights at the time when they are presented as “fighting women who held their own against the world, who owed no allegiance to any man, who were superwomen - the Maeves, the Machas, the warrior queens”. Little more could be said to attract feminists at the time to the cause, in which they would embody the spirit of these ancient women. Notably, the mention of Maeve (Queen Medb, ruler of Connacht ~BCE50 - BC50 who was famed for her beauty and sexual prowess) and the goddess Macha (the sovereignty goddess who represents, among other themes, war) will of course conjure imagery of ancient female greatness (and that too over men) - in direct keeping with the Irish Revival theme of ancient Ireland as a 'Golden Age'.

The Countess concludes with a direct statement about how militant action will bring about the change much sought after by women who feel oppressed by men and tired of domestic life: “War is helping to do this by shaking women out of old grooves and forcing responsibilities on them”. Through violence, women (like their warrior ancestors) can achieve the status that men currently hold - thus the reconstruction of a female national identity which sees women as powerful equals to their male counterparts. This in turn played into the larger societal vision of ‘breaking from the recent past’, of which British rule had been a dominant factor.

Constance died of appendicitis in a state hospital ward in 1927, after having given away her wealth and finally being truly among the people she served and revered.

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Juliet Wilkinson

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