Cumann na mBan
Cumann na mBan | |
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Founded | 2 April 1914 |
Headquarters | Ireland |
Ideology | Irish republicanism Irish nationalism |
National affiliation | Republican Sinn Féin (1986–present) Fianna Éireann (1914–present) Continuity Irish Republican Army (1986–present) |
Colours | Green |
Part of a series on |
Irish republicanism |
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Cumann na mBan (Irish pronunciation:
Cumann na mBan was active in the War of Independence and took the anti-Treaty side in the Civil War. Cumann na mBan was declared an illegal organisation by the government of the Irish Free State in 1923. This was reversed when Fianna Fáil came to power in 1932.
During the splits in the republican movement of the later part of the 20th century,
Foundation
In 1913, a number of women decided to hold a meeting in Wynn's Hotel, Dublin, for the purpose of discussing the possibility of forming an organisation for women who would work in conjunction with the recently formed Irish Volunteers. A meeting led by Kathleen Lane-O'Kelly (née Shanahan) on 2 April 1914 marked the foundation of Cumann na mBan. Branches, which pledged to the Constitution of the organisation, were formed throughout the country and were directed by the Provisional Committee.[4] The first branch was named the Ard Chraobh, which held their meetings in Brunswick Street before and after the 1916 Easter Rising.[5]
Aims
The constitution of Cumann na mBan contained explicit references to the use of force by arms if necessary. At the time the Government of Ireland Bill 1914 was being debated and might have had to be enforced in Ulster. The primary aims of the organisation as stated in its constitution were to "advance the cause of Irish liberty and to organize Irishwomen in the furtherance of this object", to "assist in arming and equipping a body of Irish men for the defence of Ireland" and to "form a fund for these purposes, to be called 'The Defence of Ireland Fund'".[6]
Membership
In addition to their local subscriptions (i.e. involvement in other nationalist associations or organisations), members of Cumann na mBan were expected to support the Defence of Ireland Fund, through subscription or otherwise.[7] Its recruits were from diverse backgrounds, mainly white-collar workers and professional women, but with a significant proportion also from the working class. In September 1914, the Irish Volunteers split over John Redmond's appeal for its members to enlist in the British Army. The majority of Cumann na mBan members supported the rump of between 10,000 and 14,000 volunteers who rejected this call and who retained the original name, the Irish Volunteers.[8][9] A few Cumann na mBan branches affiliated directly to Redmond's National Volunteers; other ex-members joined short-lived Redmondite associations, like the Volunteer Aid Association, or the "Women's National Council" formed by Bridget Dudley Edwards in 1915.[10]
Role in the 1916 Easter Rising
On 23 April 1916, when the Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood finalised arrangements for the Easter Rising, it integrated Cumann na mBan, along with the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army, into the 'Army of the Irish Republic'. Patrick Pearse was appointed Commandant-General and James Connolly Commandant-General of the Dublin Division.[3]
On the day of the Rising, Cumann na mBan members, including
The majority of the women worked as Red Cross workers, couriers or procured rations for the men. Members also gathered intelligence on scouting expeditions, carried despatches and transferred arms from dumps across the city to insurgent strongholds.[11]
Some members of Cumann na mBan were also members of the Citizen Army and as such were combatants in the Rising. Constance Markievicz is said to have shot and killed a policeman at St Stephen's Green during the opening phase of the hostilities.[12][n 1][14] She carried out sniper attacks on British troops and with Mary Hyland and Lily Kempson, was among a small force under Frank Robbins which occupied the College of Surgeons opposite the Green and failed to retrieve rifles that were believed to be held there by the college's Officer Training Corps.[15] Helena Molony was among the Citizen Army company which attacked Dublin Castle and subsequently occupied the adjacent City Hall, where she and other women sniped.[16]
At the
After the Rising
Revitalized after the Rising and led by Countess Markievicz, Cumann na mBan took a leading role in popularising the memory of the 1916 leaders, organising prisoner relief agencies and later in opposing conscription and internment. They took a lead role in organising the Lá na mBan mass anti-conscription protest on 9 June 1918.[17]
Cumann na mBan members canvassed for
The Treaty
On 7 January 1922 the Anglo-Irish Treaty was approved by the Second Dáil by a close vote of 64–57. On 5 February a convention was held to discuss this, and 419 Cumann na mBan members voted against as opposed to 63 in favour. In the ensuing Civil War, its members largely supported the anti-Treaty Republican forces. Over 400 of its members were imprisoned by the forces of the Provisional government which became in December 1922 the Irish Free State. Some of those who supported the Treaty changed the name of their branches to Cumann na Saoirse, while others retained their name but gave allegiance to the Free State Government.[19]
After the Treaty
Cumann na mBan continued to exist after the Treaty, forming (alongside Sinn Féin, the
In February 1923, 23 women members of Cumann na mBan went on hunger strike for 34 days over the arrest and imprisonment without trial of Irish republican prisoners (see
Its membership strength was adversely affected by the many splits in Irish republicanism, with sections of the membership resigning to join
What strength the organisation had left after 1926 was sapped again when post-1926 president Eithne Coyle repeatedly tried to resign in the late 1930s during
Deaths of Cumann na mBan members
- Josephine "Josie" McGowan, aged 20 died as a result of a beating by a police constable at an anti internment rally in Dublin on 22 September 1918.[23][24]
- Margaret Keogh, aged 19, was killed on 10 July 1921 (the night before the Truce came into effect). She was trying to remove arms from her home in Irishtown, Dublin, while Black and Tan raids were being carried out. One of the bullets fell in the fire, exploded, and hit her, fatally wounding her. She was the only Cumann na mBan member to be killed in the War of Independence.[25]
- Margaret McAnaney was accidentally shot dead by an IRA Volunteer at Burnfoot, County Donegal on 31 May 1922.[24]
- On that same day Margaret McElduff died of an accidental gunshot wound in County Tyrone.[24]
- On 4 August 1922 Mary Hartney died as a result of an Irish Free State Army artillery barrage in the town of Adare, County Limerick.[26]
- On 18 November 1922 Lily Bennett was shot and killed at a Republican Prisoners Defense Committee public rally on O'Connell Street, Dublin.[24]
- On 8 April 1923 a Free State soldier shot and killed Cumann na mBan member Margaret "Maggie" Dunne (aged 26) in Adrigole, West Cork, in an apparent act of reprisal.[24]
- Annie Hogan from Cratloe, County Clare died as a result of a hunger strike in Kilmainham jail. She had been released in September 1923 and died a short time later.[27]
Present day
Cumann na mBan supported the Provisional wing in the 1969/70 split in the IRA and Sinn Féin.[citation needed] Sinn Féin vice-president and leading Cumann na mBan member Máire Drumm was shot dead by loyalists in 1976. In Northern Ireland Cumann na mBan was integrated into the mainstream Irish Republican Army during the conflict, although the organisation continued to exist.
In 1986, Cumann na mBan opposed the decision by the IRA and Sinn Féin to drop the policy of
In 2014 Cumann na mBan celebrated the Centenary of their foundation in Wynn's Hotel, Dublin, where they were founded in 1914.
Cumann na mBan is a proscribed organisation in the
The documentary "Cumann na mBan: The Women's Army" (2019) offers historical and contemporary information on the organization.[31]
Presidents
No. | Image | Name | Assumed office | Left office |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Agnes O'Farrelly | 1914 | 1916 | |
2. | Countess Markievicz | 1916 | 1926 | |
3. | Jennie Wyse Power | 1926 (Interim) | 1926 (Interim) | |
4. | Eithne Coyle O'Donnell
|
1926 | 1941 | |
5. | Margaret Langsdorf | 1947 | 1956 |
Other prominent members
- Elizabeth Bloxham
- Margaret Buckley
- May Caffrey, mother of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh
- Ethna Carbery
- Winifred Carney
- Kathleen Clarke, wife of Tom Clarke
- Mary Colum
- Máire Comerford
- Lil Conlon
- Marcella Cosgrave
- Tom Barry
- Charlotte Despard
- Margaret Dobbs
- Louise Gavan Duffy
- Emily and Eilis Elliott
- Ada English
- Anna Fahy
- May Gibney
- Máire Gill
- Alice Ginnell, wife of Laurence Ginnell
- Julia Grenan
- Nan (Annie) Hogan
- Sheila Humphreys (Sighle Humphreys)
- Nell Humphreys
- Mary Hyland
- Lily Kempson
- Peig King
- Dorothy Macardle
- Sorcha MacMahon
- Rose MacNamara
- Mary McSwiney
- Helena Molony
- Nora Connolly O'Brien
- Anno O'Rahilly, sister of The O'Rahilly
- Nancy O'Rahilly, wife of The O'Rahilly
- Eva O’Flaherty
- Marie Perolz
- Fiona Plunkett
- Mimi Plunkett
- Catherine Rooney
- Min Ryan
- Anne, Lily and Eileen Cooney
- Margaret Skinnider
- Lucy Agnes Smyth
- Estella Solomons
- Brigid Lyons Thornton
- Ella Young
- May Guilfoyle
- Mary Crowe
Regional founder
Notes
- ^ This is disputed by some, including Markievicz's biographer Anne Haverty.[13]
References
- ^ "Cumann na mBan and the Irish Revolution" Archived 20 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine Press release, Collins Press
- ^ "Memorabilia from The 1916 Easter Rising, its Prelude and Aftermath: Cumann na mBan". Archived from the original on 17 June 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
- ^ a b Conlon, pp. 20–33
- , retrieved 23 April 2023
- , retrieved 23 April 2023
- ^ Cumann na mBan manifesto (1914), in Bourke (ed.), FDA, Vol V, p. 104.
- ^ Cumann na mBan (1914), in Bourke (ed.), FDA, Vil V, p.104.
- ^ Conlon, p. 13
- ^ Cambell, Fergus: Land and Revolution: Nationalist Politics in the West of Ireland, 1891–1921, p. 196
- ^ McCarthy 2007 pp.36–41
- ^ a b McCallum, Christi (2005) And They'll March with Their Brothers to Freedom Archived 4 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine- Cumann na mBan, Nationalism, and Women's Rights in Ireland, 1900–1923
- ISBN 978-1856356848. Archivedfrom the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- ISBN 0-86358-161-7.
- ISBN 978-0786485192. Archivedfrom the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- ^ Frank Robbins, Under the Starry Plough (Dublin 1977), pp.94-6
- ^ McCallum, Christi (2005), p. 62
- ^ "ANALYSIS: Lá na mBan, 9 June 1918 | Century Ireland". www.rte.ie. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
- ^ Conlon, pp. 33–40
- ^ Conlon, pp. 268–270
- ^ "1923 – A mass Hunger Strike is launched by 424 Republican prisoners in Mountjoy Gaol in protest at their continued detention after the war's end". 13 October 2016.
- ^ McCoole, Sinéad, (2003), No Ordinary Women: Irish Female Activists in the Revolutionary Years, 1900–1923, The University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, WI, p. 117
- ^ Flanagan, Eimear (3 October 2021). "NI 100: Eithne Coyle, the woman who spied for the IRA". BBC News. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
- ISBN 978-1526757999.
- ^ a b c d e Ó Ruairc, Pádraig Óg (September 2018). "Centenary: The women who died for Ireland". History Ireland.
- ^ Ó Ruairc, Pádraig Óg (23 December 2019). "Margaret Keogh: The only woman to die for the Irish Republic in the War of Independence". Irish Examiner.
- ^ "Dunraven Arms Hotel, Adare". Commemorating Women in Irish History, 1912-22. University of Limerick. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ Gibney, John (2020) The Irish War of Independence Civil War , Pen and Sword Books, Yorkshire, pg. 158-159. ISBN 9781526757982
- ^ "Six jailed for arms crimes salute as supports shout "Up the Republic"". The Irish Times. 20 January 1996. Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
- ISBN 978-0253347084.
- ^ "Proscribed Organisations". Terrorism Act 2000 (sched. 2). UK Public General Acts. Vol. 2000 c. 11. 20 July 2000. Archived from the original on 21 January 2013.
- ^ Cumann na mBan: The Women's Army- Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis
Sources
- Conlon, Lil (1969). Cumann na mBan and the Women of Ireland 1913–1925. Kilkenny: Kilkenny People.
- Anonymous, 'Cumann na mBan in Easter Week: Tribute from a Hostile Source', Wolfe Tone Annual, undated.
- Boylan, Henry, (ed.), A Dictionary of Irish Biography (Dublin 1999).
- Coxhead, Elizabeth, Daughters of Erin (Gerrard's Cross 1985).
- Daly, Madge, 'Gallant Cumann na mBan of Limerick', in Limerick Fighting Story 1916-1921 (Kerry 1948), p. 201-5.
- Fallon, Charlotte, 'Civil War Hungerstrikes: Women and Men', Eire, vol.22, 1987.
- McCarthy, Cal, Cumann na mBan and the Irish Revolution (Dublin 2007)
- McKillen, Beth, 'Irish Feminism and National Separatism, 1914-23' Eire-Ireland 17 (1982).
- Markievicz, Countess Constance, Cumann na mBan 11, no.10, 1926.
- Meehan, Helen, 'Ethna Carbery: Anna Johnston McManus', Donegal Annual, No.45, 1993.
- O'Daly, Nora, 'Cumann na mBan in Stephens' Green and in the College of Surgeons', An t-Oglach, April 1926.
- Reynolds, M, 'Cumann na mBan in the GPO', An t-Oglach, (March 1926).
- Ui Chonail, Eilis Bean, 'A Cummann na mBan recalls Easter Week', The Capuchin Annual, 1996.
- Ward, Margaret, 'Marginality and Militancy: Cumann na mBan, 1914-1936', in Austen Morgan and Bob Purdie (eds.), Ireland: Divided Nation, Divided Class (London 1980).