Time to repatriate the remains of patriot Anna Parnell

The contribution of the founder of the Ladies’ Land League to the Irish land war was as great, if not greater, than that of her brother Charles Stewart Parnell, and her work needs to be fully recognised by the Irish state, writes Lucy Keaveney

Anna Parnell, founder of the Ladies’ Land League. Andrew Kettle, Land League co-founder, described her as having ‘a better knowledge of the social and political forces of Ireland than any person, man or woman, I ever met.’

In a graveyard in beautiful north Devon lies the remains of one of Ireland’s greatest nationalist leaders whose activism with the hugely influential Ladies’ Land League was legendary. Yet her legacy was ignored in our history while her brother’s has been generously celebrated.

Anna Parnell’s life was cut short when, at the age of 59, she drowned while taking her daily swim off the coast of Ilframcombe in 1911 — and that tragedy has been compounded by the fact that she remains buried there today, far from the resting place she deserves. That resting place should be in Glasnevin Cemetery alongside the other revolutionaries who changed the course of our history. It is time to repatriate the remains of Anna Parnell and recognise her work, and that of the Ladies’ Land League (LLL).