Constance Markievicz
Constance Markievicz | |
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28 December 1918 – 15 November 1922 | |
Preceded by | William Field |
Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
Constituency | Dublin St Patrick's |
Personal details | |
Born | Constance Georgine Gore-Booth 4 February 1868 London, England |
Died | 15 July 1927 | (aged 59)
Part of a series on |
Irish republicanism |
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Constance Georgine Markievicz (
A founding member of
Markievicz supported the anti-Treaty side in the Irish Civil War. She continued as an (abstentionist) Dáil member for Sinn Féin until 1926 when she became a founding member of Fianna Fáil. She died in 1927.
Early life
Constance Georgine Gore-Booth was born at
Gore-Booth wished to train as a painter, to her family's dismay; in 1892, she went to study at the
The Markieviczes settled in
Politics
In 1908, Markievicz became actively involved in nationalist politics in Ireland. She joined
In 1909 Markievicz founded
Markievicz joined
In the Inghininidhe na h-Éireann magazine Bean na h-Éireann, Markievicz's advice to women was: "Dress suitably in short skirts and strong boots, leave your jewels in the bank and buy a revolver."[14]
Easter Rising
As a member of the Citizen Army, Markievicz took part in the 1916 Easter Rising. She was deeply inspired by the founder of the ICA, James Connolly. Markievicz designed the Citizen Army uniform and composed its anthem, based on the tune of a Polish song.[15]
Markievicz fought in
The Stephen's Green garrison held out for six days, ending the engagement when the British brought them Pearse's surrender order. The British officer, Captain (later Major) de Courcy Wheeler, who accepted their surrender was married to Markievicz's first cousin, Selina Maude Beresford Knox.[22][23]
They were taken to Dublin Castle and then to Kilmainham Gaol through what Matt Connolly described as "several groups of hostile people".[24] There, she was the only one of 70 women prisoners who was put into solitary confinement. At her court-martial on 4 May 1916, Markievicz pleaded not guilty to "taking part in an armed rebellion...for the purpose of assisting the enemy," but pleaded guilty to having attempted "to cause disaffection among the civil population of His Majesty".[25] Markievicz told the court, "I went out to fight for Ireland's freedom and it does not matter what happens to me. I did what I thought was right and I stand by it."[25][26] She was sentenced to death, but the court recommended mercy "solely and only on account of her sex".[25] The sentence was commuted to life in prison. When told of this, she said to her captors, "I do wish your lot had the decency to shoot me".[b][28]
Markievicz was transferred to
First Dáil
In 1918, she was jailed again for her part in
Markievicz was in
Markievicz served as Minister for Labour from April 1919 to January 1922, in the Second Ministry and the Third Ministry of the Dáil. Holding cabinet rank from April to August 1919, she became both the first Irish female Cabinet Minister and at the same time, only the second female government minister in Europe.[a][34] She was the only female cabinet minister in Irish history until 1979 when Máire Geoghegan-Quinn was appointed to the cabinet post of Minister for the Gaeltacht for Fianna Fáil. Her Labour department was concerned with setting up Conciliation Boards, arbitrating labour disputes, surveying areas and establishing guidelines for wages and food prices.[35]
Civil War and Fianna Fáil
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Markievicz left the government in January 1922 along with Éamon de Valera and others in opposition to the Anglo-Irish Treaty. She worked actively for the Republican cause in the Irish Civil War, including directing the Citizen Army in the occupation of Moran's Hotel in Dublin.[36] After the civil war she toured the United States. She was not elected in the 1922 Irish general election but was returned in 1923 for the Dublin South constituency. In common with other Republican candidates, she did not take her Dáil seat. She was arrested again in November 1923. In prison, she went on a hunger strike, and within a month, she and other prisoners were released.[37]
She left Sinn Féin and joined the Fianna Fáil party on its foundation in 1926, chairing the inaugural meeting of the new party in La Scala Theatre. In the June 1927 general election, she was re-elected to the 5th Dáil as a candidate for Fianna Fáil, which was pledged to return to Dáil Éireann, but died only five weeks later, before she could take her seat.[38] Her fellow Fianna Fáil TDs signed the controversial Oath of Allegiance and took their seats in the Dáil on 12 August 1927, less than a month after her death.[39] The party leader Éamon de Valera described the Oath as "an empty political formula".[40]
Family life
Constance's husband, Casimir Markievicz, was known in Paris as Count Markievicz, a title that was the norm for large landowners in Poland at this time. When the Gore-Booth family enquired as to the validity of the title, they were informed through Pyotr Rachkovsky of the Russian Secret Police that he had taken the title "without right", and that there had never been a "Count Markievicz" in Poland.[41] However, the Department of Genealogy in Saint Petersburg said that he was entitled to claim to be a member of the nobility.[42] Markievicz was married, though separated, at the time they met; his wife died in 1899 and he and Gore-Booth married in London on 29 September 1900.[43] She gave birth to their daughter, Maeve, at Lissadell in November 1901.[43] The child was mainly raised by her Gore-Booth grandparents. Stanislas, Casimir's son from his first marriage, accompanied the couple to Ireland after their honeymoon visit to his homeland.
In 1913 Markievicz's husband moved back to Ukraine, and never returned to live in Ireland. However, they did correspond and he was by her side when she died.
Death
Markievicz died at the age of 59 on 15 July 1927, of complications after two appendicitis operations, a dangerous surgery in the days before antibiotics. She had given away the last of her wealth, and died in a public ward "among the poor where she wanted to be".[44][45] One of the doctors attending her was her revolutionary colleague Kathleen Lynn.[46] Also at her bedside were Casimir and Stanislas Markievicz, Éamon de Valera and Hanna Sheehy Skeffington.[46] Prior to her death, Esther Roper maintained a vigil at Constance's bed with Marie Perolz, Helena Molony, Kathleen Lynn and other friends. Refused a state funeral by the Free State government, she was laid out in the Rotunda, where she had spoken at so many political meetings. Thousands of the Dubliners who loved her lined O'Connell Street and Parnell Square to pass by her body and pay their respects to 'Madame'. It took four hours for the beginning of the funeral, starting from the Rotunda, to reach the gates of Glasnevin Cemetery. Eamon de Valera gave the funeral oration, while Free State soldiers stood on guard to prevent the rifle salute that Michael Collins had called “the only speech which it is proper to make above the grave of a dead Fenian”.[44][47]
Her former Citizen Army colleague the playwright Seán O'Casey said of her: "One thing she had in abundance—physical courage; with that she was clothed as with a garment."[48]
Tributes
In County Sligo Markievicz Road and Markievicz Park (the main GAA stadium in the county) both bear her name.[49] In Dublin, the flat complex Countess Markiewicz House also bears her name. [50]
In 2018, a portrait of Markievicz was donated by the Irish parliament to the British House of Commons to commemorate the 1918 Representation of the People Act, under which, some women were allowed the right to vote for the first time in the United Kingdom.[51]
In 2019, a Dublin City Council Commemorative Plaque was unveiled at Markievicz's former home in Dublin, Surrey House on Leinster Road in Rathmines.[52]
In 2008, a Ukrainian village of Zhyvotivka, where Constance stayed with the Markievicz family in 1903, opened a room dedicated to the couple with the documents brought from Lissadel. [53]
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Sculpture of Markievicz and her cocker spaniel, Poppet, on Townsend Street, Dublin by Elizabeth McLaughlin
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A Dublin City Council 1916 Commemorative plaque, unveiled on 15 July 2019, to commemorate Constance Markievicz and the house she lived in from 1912 to 1916
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The bust of Constance Markievicz in St Stephen's Green in Dublin.
Notes
- ^ People's Commissar (Minister) for Social Welfare of Soviet Russiafrom 1917 to 1918.
- ^ A quite different account was given by 2-Lt William Wylie KC, the prosecutor, writing 23 years later in 1939: he said that she "curled up completely", "never stopped moaning" and cried "I am only a woman, and you cannot shoot a woman. You must not shoot a woman."[27]
References
- ^ Bureau of Military History, Winess Statement 1666 [1] Archived 27 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine (Fr. T. O'Donoghue), p. 8
- ^ "Sligo and Madame Markievicz". The Irish Times. Dublin. 29 June 1917.
- ^ British National Archives WO 35/211
- ^ a b "Countess Markievicz—'The Rebel Countess'" (PDF). Irish Labour History Society. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
- ^ Memoirs, Ed by Dennis Donoghue (1972) Quoted in Everyman edition of, Yeats, The Poems.(1992)p694.Rodgers, Rosemary (11 May 2015). "The Rebel Countess". Irish America. June/July 2015. pp. 42–3. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2018 – via issuu.
Rodgers, Rosemary (13 May 2015). "The Rebel Countess". Irish America. June/July 2015. Archived from the original on 23 November 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2018 – via Irish America website. - ^ "Countess Markievicz (Constance Markievicz)". Centre for Advancement of Women in Politics. Archived from the original on 16 March 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
- ISBN 978-1-78537-084-7. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
- ^ "Constance Markievicz: The Countess of Irish Freedom". The Wild Geese today. Archived from the original on 5 May 1998.
- ^ Gore-Booth, Eva, The one and the many Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1904. Copy with hand-painted illustrations by Constance Markievicz [née Gore-Booth] held in the Manuscripts & Archives Research Library, The Library of Trinity College Dublin. Available in digital form on the Digital Collections website.
- ^ Anne Haverty, Constance Markievicz: Irish Revolutionary (Liiliput Press: Dublin, 2016), pp. 73-74.
- ^ Marecco, Anne (1967). The Rebel Countess. Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
- ISBN 978-0-14-190276-0. Archivedfrom the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-86104-700-0.
- ISBN 978-0-8065-3609-5. Archivedfrom the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
- ^ Markievicz, Constance (c. 1917). A Battle Hymn. Irish Traditional Music Archive. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
- ISBN 978-1-85635-684-8. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- ^ Arrington, Lauren (26 January 2016). "Did Constance Markievicz Shoot the Policeman?". Conference of Irish Historians in Britain. Archived from the original on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-86358-161-8.
- ^ Ward (1983), p. 112.
- ^ Millar, Scott (December 2013). "Not for fame or for name". Liberty. 12 (10): 23.
- ISBN 978-0-7864-8519-2. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- ^ "Mauser pistol handed to me by Countess Markievicz when she surrendered to me at the College of Surgeons Dublin in 1916 with Commandant Mallin. H. E. de C. Wheeler. This was presented to me by General Lowe". Catalogue. National Library of Ireland. 1916. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
- ^ Bunbury, Turtle. "Dorothea Findlater – One Hundred Years On". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
Perhaps the most awkward arrest Wheeler made was Countess Markievicz, his wife's first cousin.
- ^ Matthew Connolly Bureau of Military History witness statement Archived 7 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7524-7272-0. Archivedfrom the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ Arrington (2015), p. 141.
- ISBN 978-1-84889-214-9.
- ISBN 978-0-19-534751-7. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ Kenny, Mary (November–December 2018). "Would the countess have supported repeal of the 8th?". History Ireland. Archived from the original on 9 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
- OCLC 1250378425.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ^ "Archives – The First Women MPs". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 7 October 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ McGuffin, John (1973). "Internment – Women Internees 1916–1973". Archived from the original on 13 September 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
- ^ "Countess Constance de Markievicz". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 28 September 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
- ^ Ward (1983), p. 137.
- ISBN 978-1-913275-06-8.[page needed]
- ^ Annie Farrington Bureau of Military History witness statement Archived 8 May 2020 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Pašeta, Senia (2009). "Markievicz, Constance Georgine". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Royal Irish Academy. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
- ^ "Constance Georgina de Markievicz". Houses of the Oireachtas. Archived from the original on 23 November 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ "New Deputies take their seats – Dáil Éireann debate – Friday, 12 Aug 1927". Archived from the original on 28 August 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
- ^ "BBC's Short History of Ireland". Bbc.co.uk. 1 January 1970. Archived from the original on 20 August 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
- ISBN 978-1-4008-7418-7. Archivedfrom the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ^ Arrington (2015), p. 22 (footnote).
- ^ a b "Constance Georgine Gore-Booth". The Lissadell Estate. Archived from the original on 18 November 2007. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-85635-645-9. Archivedfrom the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
- ISBN 978-0-8156-2480-6. Archivedfrom the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
- ^ a b "Death of Madame Marcievicz". Irish Independent. 15 July 1927.
- ^ "The Late Madame Marcievicz: An Impressive Funeral". Irish Independent. 18 July 1927.
- ISBN 978-0-19-866261-7.
- ^ "Ulster Bank, Stephen Street, Markievicz Road, RATHQUARTER, Sligo, SLIGO". buildingsfireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
- ^ "Countess Markiewicz House, 115-140 Townsend Street, Mark's Lane, Dublin 2, DUBLIN". buildingsfireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
- ^ Oireachtas, Houses of the (19 July 2018). "Picture of Constance Markievicz, first woman elected to House of Commons, gifted to UK by Ceann Comhairle – 19 Jul 2018, 11.20 – Houses of the Oireachtas". www.oireachtas.ie. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
- ^ "Countess Markievicz is honoured with a plaque at Rathmines home". Dublingazette.com. 17 July 2019. Archived from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
- ^ "Irish flag flies high as Markievicz room opens in Ukrainian village". Irish Independent. 1 October 2008. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
Further reading
- O'Faolain, Seán (1934). Constance Markievicz.
- Lawlor, Damian (2009). Na Fianna Éireann and the Irish Revolution- 1909–1923.
- Marreco, Anne (1967). The Rebel Countess: The Life and Times of Constance Markievicz.
- Norman, Diana (1987). Terrible Beauty: A Life of Constance Markievicz, 1868–1927.
- Haverty, Anne (1993). Constance Markievicz: Irish Revolutionary.
- McGowan, Joe (2003). Constance Markievicz: The People's Countess.
- Van Voris, Jacqueline (1967). Constance de Markievicz: In The Cause of Ireland.
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British Army military intelligence file of 1917
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British Army military intelligence file of the activities of Countess Constance Georgina Markievicz to 1919
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British Army military intelligence file of the activities of Countess Constance Georgina Markievicz of 1922
External links
- Constance Markievicz Archive at marxists.org
- ‘Women, ideals and the nation’ speech available from the Digital Library@Villanova University
- Her speeches in the Treaty Debates
- Article on Constance Markievicz
- Life As A Rebel & Co-Founder of The Irish Citizen's Army Archived 13 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine
- Countess Markievicz and Easter 1916
- Alexander Thom and Son Ltd. 1923. p. – via Wikisource. . . Dublin: