The Changemakers: Cork-born Quaker Anna Haslam who fought for women’s rights

The first of a six-part series where Clodagh Finn shares the stories of the women who changed Ireland for the better

Anna M. Haslam, with her husband Thomas, in a portrait painted by Sarah Cecilia Harrison in 1908. Collection & image © Hugh Lane Gallery

When Anna Maria Haslam cast her first vote in 1918, at the age of 90, she was paraded to the polling booth by several jubilant members of the suffrage movement.

Radicals and moderates alike were keen to show their appreciation to this woman, the 16th of 17 children born into a middle-class Quaker family in Youghal, Co Cork, who had spent her life campaigning for women’s rights.