Inghinidhe na hÉireann (; "Daughters of Ireland") was a radical

Irish nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of c ...

women's organisation led and founded by

Maud Gonne Maud Gonne MacBride ( ga, Maud Nic Ghoinn Bean Mhic Giolla Bhríghde; 21 December 1866 – 27 April 1953) was an English-born Irish republican revolutionary, suffragette and actress. Of Anglo-Irish descent, she was won over to Irish nationalism ...

from 1900 to 1914, when it merged with the new

Cumann na mBan Cumann na mBan (; literally "The Women's Council" but calling themselves The Irishwomen's Council in English), abbreviated C na mB, is an Irish republican women's paramilitary organisation formed in Dublin on 2 April 1914, merging with and d ...

Patriotic Children's Treat

The Inghinidhe originated from a meeting of 15 women in the Celtic Literary Society Rooms in Dublin on Easter Sunday 1900. While the meeting's original purpose was to provide a gift for

Arthur Griffith Arthur Joseph Griffith ( ga, Art Seosamh Ó Gríobhtha; 31 March 1871 – 12 August 1922) was an Irish writer, newspaper editor and politician who founded the political party Sinn Féin. He led the Irish delegation at the negotiations that prod ...

for defending Maud Gonne from an accusation that she was a British spy,Trotter 2001, p.82 it turned to planning a "Patriotic Children's Treat" in response to the Children's Treat in the

Phoenix Park The Phoenix Park ( ga, Páirc an Fhionnuisce) is a large urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its perimeter wall encloses of recreational space. It includes large areas of grassland and tre ...

which had been part of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

's April visit to Dublin. One aim of the royal visit was to encourage Irishmen to enlist in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

to fight in the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

, whereas Griffith, Gonne and others were sympathetic to the

Boer Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this are ...

s. Over fifty women joined the organising committee for the Patriotic Children's Treat, which took place in July on the Sunday after the

Wolfe Tone Theobald Wolfe Tone, posthumously known as Wolfe Tone ( ga, Bhulbh Teón; 20 June 176319 November 1798), was a leading Irish revolutionary figure and one of the founding members in Belfast and Dublin of the United Irishmen, a republican soci ...

Commemoration. It involved 30,000 children parading from Beresford Place to

Clonturk Clonturk () is an area on the Northside of Dublin, in Ireland. It is located in the south of the suburb of Drumcondra, just north of the River Tolka, but previously, Clonturk had been an alternative name for Drumcondra and the wider area. Clo ...

Park, followed by a picnic and anti-recruitment speeches.Trotter 2001, pp.82–85 The funds left over after the Patriotic Children's Treat were used to establish Inghinidhe na hÉireann as a permanent organisation.Trotter 2001, p.85

Members

Most founders were middle-class Catholics, though Helena Molony wrote in its magazine, Bean na hÉireann, "Now there were some young girls in Dublin, chiefly members of the Irish classes of Celtic Literary Society… They were (with one exception) all working girls.They had not much gold and silver to give to Ireland. Only willing hearts, earnestness and determination." They originally met on Easter Sunday after noon Mass, she wrote, with the intention of presenting an inscribed blackthorn stick to (an unnamed) Arthur Griffith, who had thrashed a newspaper editor for maligning Maud Gonne. They went on to plan a picnic for 30,000 children as an alternative to the planned celebrations of a recruiting visit of the British monarch to Ireland. As they had no money, they raised subscriptions all over Dublin, coming together in an association named Daughters of Ireland, or (in deliberately antiquated spelling) Inghinidhe na h-Éireann.

was elected President of the association; Vice-Presidents were Alice Furlong,

Jenny Wyse Power Jane Wyse Power ( ga, Siobhán Bean an Phaoraigh; ; 1 May 1858 – 5 January 1941) was an Irish activist, feminist, politician and businesswoman. She was a founder member of Sinn Féin and also of Inghinidhe na hÉireann. She rose in the ranks t ...

, Annie Egan, and Anna Johnston (

Ethna Carbery Ethna Carbery, born Anna Bella Johnston, (3 December 1864 – 2 April 1902) was an Irish journalist, writer and poet. She is best known for the ballad '' Roddy McCorley'' and the ''Song of Ciabhán''; the latter was set to music by Ivor Gurney. I ...

). Among the founders were Helena Molony, Sinéad O'Flanagan (later wife of

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of govern ...

), actors

Maire Quinn Maire Quinn (9 June 1872 – 21 August 1947) was an Irish actress and republican activist, and one of the founding members of the Irish National Theatre Society. Early life in Ireland Maire Quinn was born Mary Quinn to Michael Quinn and Mar ...

and Molly and

Sara Allgood Sarah Ellen Allgood (30 October 1880 – 13 September 1950), known as Sara Allgood, was an Irish-American actress. She first studied drama with the Irish nationalist Daughters of Ireland and was at the opening of the Irish National Theatre Soc ...

, physician Kathleen Lynn and Mary Macken, a leading member of the Catholic

Women's Suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

League. Later members included Mary MacSwiney,

Máire Nic Shiubhlaigh Máire Nic Shiubhlaigh (8 May 1883 – 1958) was an Irish actress and republican activist. She started acting in her teens and appeared in the first Irish-language play performed in Ireland. She was a founder-member of the Abbey Theatre and ...

Constance Markievicz Constance Georgine Markievicz ( pl, Markiewicz ; ' Gore-Booth; 4 February 1868 – 15 July 1927), also known as Countess Markievicz and Madame Markievicz, was an Irish politician, revolutionary, nationalist, suffragist, socialist, and the firs ...

, Margaret Buckley,

Ella Young Ella Young (26 December 1867 – 23 July 1956) was an Irish poet and Celtic mythologist active in the Gaelic and Celtic Revival literary movement of the late 19th and early 20th century. Born in Ireland, Young was an author of poetry and c ...

, Máire Gill, writer Rosamond Jacob, Hanna Sheehy,

Alice Milligan Alice Letitia Milligan 'pseud.'' Iris Olkyrn(4 September 1865 – 13 April 1953) was an Irish writer and activist in Ireland's Celtic Revival; an advocate for the political and cultural participation of women; and a Protestant-unionist convert ...

,Trotter 2001, p.86 and Marcella Cosgrave as well as many working-class women.

Work

The Inghinidhe's objects were defined as follows: * The re-establishment of the complete independence of Ireland * To encourage the study of Gaelic, of Irish literature, history, music and art, especially among the young, by the organising and teaching of classes for the above subjects. * To support and popularise Irish manufactures. * To discourage the reading and circulation of low English literature, the singing of English songs, the attending of vulgar English entertainments at theatres and music halls, and to combat in every way English influence, which is doing so much injury to the artistic taste and refinement of the Irish people. * To form a fund called the National Purposes Fund for the furtherance of the above objects. They sponsored classes and entertainment for children and adults, and protested at the British army recruitment centre in

O'Connell Street O'Connell Street () is a street in the centre of Dublin, Ireland, running north from the River Liffey. It connects the O'Connell Bridge to the south with Parnell Street to the north and is roughly split into two sections bisected by Henry S ...

. The Inghinidhe performed

tableaux vivants A (; often shortened to ; plural: ), French for "living picture", is a static scene containing one or more actors or models. They are stationary and silent, usually in costume, carefully posed, with props and/or scenery, and may be theatrica ...

on themes from Irish mythology and world history. It also produced Irish plays with male actors recruited from other nationalist groups. In 1908, the Inghinidhe launched a monthly magazine, ''Bean na hÉireann'', which was edited by Helena Molony. Among the contributors were PH Pearse,

Thomas MacDonagh Thomas Stanislaus MacDonagh ( ga, Tomás Anéislis Mac Donnchadha; 1 February 1878 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish political activist, poet, playwright, educationalist and revolutionary leader. He was one of the seven leaders of the Easter Rising ...

, Sidney Gifford (under her ''nom de plume'' John Brennan),

, who wrote the gardening column and Molony herself who wrote the Labour Notes. There were articles on politics, the vote for women, nationalism, language – and regular columns on labour issues, fashion (stressing Irish-made clothes), gardening, articles in Irish in the cló Ghaelach (as Irish was always then written and printed), a children's section with competitions, etc. It was popular with both men and women.

Superseding

In 1914, Inghinidhe na hÉireann was absorbed into

, the women's arm of the

Irish Volunteers The Irish Volunteers ( ga, Óglaigh na hÉireann), sometimes called the Irish Volunteer Force or Irish Volunteer Army, was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists and republicans. It was ostensibly formed in respon ...

. However, some trade unionist members opted instead to join the

Irish Citizen Army The Irish Citizen Army (), or ICA, was a small paramilitary group of trained trade union volunteers from the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU) established in Dublin for the defence of workers' demonstrations from the Dublin M ...

.''Maud Gonne MacBride and Inghinidhe na hÉireann'', p.1

References

Bibliography

* Coxhead, Elizabeth, ''Daughters of Erin'' (Gerrard's Cross 1985) * Fox, R.M, ''Rebel Irishwomen'' (Dublin 1935) * Fox, R.M, How Women Helped', in ''Dublin's Fighting Story 1916–1921'', ''Told by Men who Made it'', Tralee, the ''Kerryman'' undated. * Hayes, Alan (ed.) ''The Years Flew By, Recollections of Madame Sidney Gifford Czira'', (Galway 2000) * Markiewicz, Countess Constance, ''Women, Ideals and the Nation'' (Dublin 1909) * Mulholland, Maria, ''The Politics and Relationships of Kathleen Lynn'' (Dublin 2002) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Inghinidhe na hEireann Cumann na mBan Irish nationalist organisations Women's organisations based in Ireland 1900 establishments in Ireland 1914 disestablishments in Ireland Organizations established in 1900 Organizations disestablished in 1914