Rebel countess blazed the way for a hardline set of women republicans

NEXT week marks 90 years since the election of the first Irish woman to parliament — Countess Constance Markievicz.

The event was commemorated in the Dáil this week. The countess was not only the first woman elected to the Dáil, but also the first woman elected to the British parliament.

She was obviously selected as a Sinn Féin candidate in 1918 because of her role in the Easter Rising. In the immediate aftermath of the rebellion she was sentenced to death, but this was commuted.