Women written out of Irish history

I AM a fifth-year student taking history as one of my subjects for the Leaving Cert. Recently I chose to research as my special topic the women of the 1916 Rising.

I was disgusted to find very few books on the subject. I feel that historians have failed to acknowledge the part women played in one of the most significant events in our history.

The book I am currently studying sums up the contribution of Cumann na mBan in two pages.

In the early 19th century the Catholic church frowned upon women’s participation in public life. Maud Gonne saw that attitudes had to change.

Women’s organisations were set up for national independence. Inghinidhe na hÉireann (Daughters of Ireland) was set up in 1900 and, four years later, Cumann na mBan.

Women were also involved in the labour movement in 1911 and in the Great Lockout of 1913. Women smuggled arms from Germany. More than 200 women fought in the Easter Rising and women also took part in the War of Independence and the Civil War.

It is time to recall the story of women’s participation in Irish society from the 1900s to the 1960s.

Maybe one day there will be a song about Maud Gonne, Kathleen Clarke, Helena Moloney, Nora Connolly and the hundreds of women who risked their lives for an independent Ireland.

Jeanette Levis,

Sea View,

Coorydorigan,

Schull,

Co Cork.