Louie Bennett (Louisa Elizabeth Bennett; 1870 – 1956) was an Irish

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

, journalist and writer. Born and raised in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, she established the

Irish Women's Suffrage Federation The Irish Women's Suffrage Federation (IWSF) was an organisation founded in 1911 to unite scattered suffrage societies in Ireland.Peter Gordon: Dictionary of British Women's Organisations 1825-1960 See also * Women's suffrage organizations *Timel ...

in 1911. She was a joint editor and contributor to the

Irish Citizen Irish nationality law details the conditions by which a person is a national of the Republic of Ireland. The primary law governing these regulations is the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956, which came into force on 17 July 1956. Reg ...

newspaper. She wrote two books, ''The Proving of Priscilla'' (1902) and ''A Prisoner of His Word'' (1908), and continued to contribute to newspapers as a freelance journalist. She played a significant role in the

Irish Women Workers' Union The Irish Women Workers' Union was a trade union which was set up at a meeting on 5 September 1911 in Dublin, Ireland. The meeting had been organized by Delia Larkin. The union was created because other trade unions of the time excluded women worke ...

, and was the first woman president of the Irish Trade Union Congress.

Early life

Bennett was born in the

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

area of Temple Road, in the new upper-class suburb of

Rathmines Rathmines () is an affluent inner suburb on the Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It lies three kilometres south of the city centre. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to t ...

in Dublin, into a

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

family. The eldest of nine surviving children of ten, she had four sisters and five brothers. Her father, James Bennett, ran the family business as a fine art auctioneer and valuer on Ormond Quay. Her mother, Susan Boulger, came from a family of some social standing in Dublin. The family later moved to the suburb of

Killiney Killiney () is an affluent seaside resort and suburb in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. It lies south of neighbouring Dalkey, east of Ballybrack and Sallynoggin and north of Shankill. The place grew around the 11th century Killiney Churc ...

, overlooking Dublin Bay. Her mother's family disapproved of her parents' marriage; Susan Boulger came from a

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 ...

family who did not approve of their daughter marrying "into trade". She was initially educated at home with her brothers and sisters, but later went to a boarding school in England, and for a time, to

Alexandra College Alexandra College ( ir, Coláiste Alexandra) is a fee-charging boarding and day school for girls located in Milltown, Dublin, Ireland. The school operates under a Church of Ireland ethos. History The school was founded in 1866 and takes its ...

in Dublin. She briefly studied music in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

, Germany. As a young girl she immersed herself in novels by

Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

, Meredith, Austen and

Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...

, and was introduced to women's rights by reading

George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wro ...

. She published two novels, ''The Proving of Priscilla'' (published by Harpers, 1902) and ''A Prisoner of His Word'' (Maunsel, 1908).

Suffrage movement and the ''Irish Citizen''

Suffrage movement

The terms suffragette (militant) and

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

(non-militant) are used to describe those who campaigned for the rights of women to vote. From the late 1800s, suffrage societies were emerging in Ireland in response to changing social and political times. Louie Bennett and

Helen Chenevix Helen Sophia Chenevix (13 November 1886 – 4 March 1963) was an Irish suffragist and trade unionist. In 1911, she worked with Louie Bennett to form the Irish Women's Suffrage Federation. The two later founded the Irish Women Workers' Union. Ch ...

absorbed the Irishwomen's Suffrage and Local Government Association (IWSLGA) and scattered local suffrage societies into the Irish Women's Suffrage Federation (IWSF), an umbrella group for most of the non-militant suffrage societies, in 1911: the year suffragettes refused to participate in the census in protest at their lack of a vote. After

Carrie Chapman Catt Carrie Chapman Catt (; January 9, 1859 Fowler, p. 3 – March 9, 1947) was an American women's suffrage leader who campaigned for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave U.S. women the right to vote in 1920. Catt ...

and

Jane Addams Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 May 21, 1935) was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, and author. She was an important leader in the history of social work and women's suffrage ...

formed a

Women's Peace Party The Woman's Peace Party (WPP) was an American pacifist and feminist organization formally established in January 1915 in response to World War I. The organization is remembered as the first American peace organization to make use of direct action ...

in the United States in January 1915, suffragists divided on the correct stance for women towards war. British suffragettes and unionist-leaning campaigners in Ireland abandoned or postponed all suffrage work. In the ''Irish Citizen,'' Bennett stated unequivocally that "Women should never have abandoned their struggle for justice, war or no war". Some members of the Irish suffrage movement were also involved in the independence movement, though others were unionist. As the fighter for both suffrage and freedom

Sidney Czira Sidney Sarah Madge Czira (née Gifford; 3 August 1889 – 15 September 1974), known by her pen name John Brennan, was a journalist, broadcaster, writer and revolutionary. She was an active member of the revolutionary group Inghinidhe na hÉirean ...

(John Brennan) put it in an interview with

RTÉ Television RTÉ Television is a department of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the Republic of Ireland's state controlled national broadcaster. Its first channel was Teilifís Éireann, which began broadcasting on 31 December 1961. Since the 1960s, RT ...

, the suffragists wanted to get into the

British parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...

, and the independence movement wanted to get out of it.

Involvement with the ''Irish Citizen''

In 1920, Bennett took over financial and editorial control of the

Irish Women's Franchise League The Irish Women's Franchise League was an organisation for women's suffrage which was set up in Dublin in November 1908. Its founder members included Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington, Margaret Cousins, Francis Sheehy-Skeffington and James H. Cousins. Tho ...

's paper, the ''Irish Citizen''. It had been founded in 1912 to further the causes of suffrage and feminism in Ireland and was first edited by

James Cousins James Henry Cousins (22 July 1873 – 20 February 1956) was an Anglo-Irish writer, playwright, actor, critic, editor, teacher and poet. He used several pseudonyms, including Mac Oisín and the Hindu name Jayaram. Life Cousins was born at 18, Ke ...

and

Francis Sheehy Skeffington Francis Joseph Christopher Skeffington (later Sheehy Skeffington; 23 December 1878 – 26 April 1916) was an Irish writer and radical activist, known also by the nickname "Skeffy".Dara Redmond"Officer who exposed pacifist's murder", ''The Irish ...

. In March 1913, Cousins left Ireland, leaving Sheehy Skeffington as the sole editor. Sheehy Skeffington was murdered in 1916 by British soldiers during the Easter rising. Control of the paper was then taken by Francis's widow Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, with Bennett's help. Bennett had been outspoken against the policy of the ''Irish Citizen'' in the past and had actually withdrawn her subscription to the paper the previous year. In 1916 Hanna Sheehy Skeffington elinquished her role to travel to America and campaign for justice after the death of her husband. That left Bennett as the joint editor of the paper with fellow IWFL member Mary Bourke-Dowling. During the time that Bennett took over, the paper had a number of debts, and had shrunk from its original eight pages to four, with one of these pages consisting entirely of advertisements. To combat this, Bennett wanted more space to be given towards trade unions (to increase sales) and in 1920 the IWWU and the Irish Nurses' Organisation started using the paper as their official journal – despite Sheehy Skeffington writing in it that it needed to stay distinctly unaffiliated to any party. In 1920 Bennett told Sheehy Skeffington that she would like to take over control of the paper and turn it into a feminist Labour paper. This proved the last straw for Sheehy Skeffington, who ended their agreement. Sheehy Skeffington's own interests started to shift away from the paper as a member of the Sinn Féin in 1920. Bennett was left in control of the paper until its demise a few months later. Funding decreased due to its dwindling support and the ethos of the paper changing to a trade union organ. The printing press was destroyed by the

Black and Tans Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...

during the

War of Independence This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence. List See also * Lists of active separatist movements * List of civil wars * List of o ...

. The final issue was published in September 1920.

Trade union work

Irish Women Workers' Union

The Irish Women Workers' Union was founded at a public meeting held on 5 September 1911 in the old Concert Hall on

Great Brunswick Street Pearse Street () (formerly Great Brunswick Street) is a major street in Dublin. It runs from College Street in the west to MacMahon Bridge in the east, and is one of the city's longest streets. It has several different types of residential and c ...

(later the Academy cinema on what is now called Pearse Street). The union would not only give women a greater voice in the workplace but would also help to win them the vote and improve their status in society, according to

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 fir ...

. Following her attendance at the Trade Union Congress in Sligo 1916, Bennett became publicly identified with the Irish Women's Worker's Union.

Helena Molony Helena Mary Molony (15 January 1883 – 29 January 1967) was a prominent Irish republican, feminist and labour activist. She fought in the 1916 Easter Rising and later became the second woman president of the Irish Trades Union Congress. Early ...

had approached Bennett to become involved and they, along with

and

Rosie Hackett Rosanna "Rosie" Hackett (25 July 1893 – 4 May 1976) was an Irish insurgent and trade union leader. She was a founder-member of the Irish Women Workers' Union, and supported strikers during the 1913 Dublin Lockout. She later became a member of ...

, became key figures in a re-organised IWWU after 1916. The Union's role as a voice for women was centred on attempts to win improved pay and conditions for women workers, parity with male workers and the right to apply for the same jobs and be accorded the same status as men. On 20 November 1935, the IWWU, under Bennett, staged street protests against discriminatory sections of

Seán Lemass Seán Francis Lemass (born John Francis Lemass; 15 July 1899 – 11 May 1971) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1959 to 1966. He also served as Tánaiste from 1957 to 1959, 1951 to 1954 ...

's Conditions of Employment bill. In 1945, the Union organised a successful three-month strike for improved conditions and won the entitlement, subsequently enjoyed by all Irish workers, to two weeks' paid annual holidays. On the political front, the Union was also an effective lobbying organisation that sought to make progress on a range of issues of direct relevance to Irish women by working to influence the wider trade union movement as well as successive governments. Bennett continued to be involved in a leadership role until 1955.

The Irish Trades Union Congress

She was a member of the national executive of the

Irish Trades Union Congress The Irish Trades Union Congress (ITUC) was a union federation covering the island of Ireland. History Until 1894, representatives of Irish trade unions attended the British Trades Union Congress (TUC). However, many felt that they had little imp ...

from 1927 to 1932, and from 1944 to 1950. In 1932, Bennett became its first woman president, and was elected to the position again in 1948.

Political activity

In 1927, she was elected to the executive committee of the Labour Party. In 1943, she was elected as a Labour Party member of the

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built following the 1816 legislation that allowed the building of a major port to serve Dubli ...

borough council. She was a

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

and in later life she campaigned against

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

Personal life, death and legacy

Bennett lived with her long-time friend and companion

, County Dublin. Bennett died on 25 November 1956, aged 86. Her funeral was attended by many trade union and Labour figures including

William Norton William Joseph Norton (2 November 1900 – 4 December 1963) was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste from 1948 to 1951 and from 1954 to 1957, Leader of the Labour Party from 1932 to 1960, Minister for Social Welfare from ...

. She is buried at

Deans Grange Cemetery Deans Grange Cemetery (; also spelled ''Deansgrange'') is situated in the suburban area of Deansgrange in the Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown part of the former County Dublin, Ireland. Since it first opened in 1865, over 150,000 people have been burie ...

, sharing a grave with her mother, father and brother Lionel Vaughan Bennett. In the year following her death, R.M. Fox published a book titled ''Louie Bennett, Her Life and Times'', based on her reminiscences to him in the final year of her life. In 1958 a park bench memorial in

St Stephen's Green St Stephen's Green () is a garden square and public park located in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard. It was officially re-opened to the public on Tuesday, 27 July 1880 by L ...

was commissioned to pay tribute to her life and service. In 1996, she was commemorated with a stamp by

An Post (; literally 'The Post') is the state-owned provider of postal services in Ireland. An Post provides a "universal postal service" to all parts of the country as a member of the Universal Postal Union. Services provided include letter post, p ...

. The 32 pence stamp described her as a suffragette and trade unionist.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Louie Journalists from Dublin (city) 1870 births 1956 deaths Irish women activists Irish suffragists Irish women journalists Irish women novelists 20th-century Irish women writers 20th-century journalists 20th-century Irish novelists People educated at Alexandra College Trade unionists from Dublin (city) Labour Party (Ireland)