'The Women of 1916' seminar in KIlcullen
The event will be conducted by Sinead McCoole and will take a close look at the role and legacy of the women in the Rising, of whom Eamon de Valera said 'they are at once the boldest but the most unmanageable of revolutionaries', while General ‘Bloody’ Maxwell considered them ‘silly little girls.’
Constance Markievicz had some advice for women activists: ‘Leave your jewels in the bank, and buy a revolver.’ Most of the women who became involved in the fight for Ireland’s freedom did not have jewels to swop for guns, but the change in their circumstances and lives would be just as radical. Setting aside their roles as dutiful daughters, wives and mothers, they became dispatch carriers, couriers, gunrunners and nurses, while some fought guns in hand side-by-side with their male comrades.
Sinéad McCoole is a historian and member of the Expert Advisory Group on the Decade of Centenaries. Her books include the highly acclaimed Easter Widows: Seven Irish Women who Lived in the Shadow of the 1916 Rising and No Ordinary Women: Irish Female Activists in the Revolutionary Years 1900-1923.
The Seminar will be followed by lunch in Fallons, Kilcullen which is optional. The cost of lunch is €10 and you can book on the day.
The seminar begins at 11.30 with registration until noon.
