''The Irish Citizen'' was founded in 1912 as the newspaper by 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 ...

. Its first editors were

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 ...

the writer, pacifist and suffragist, and James H. Cousins'The "Irish Citizen", 1912-1920' by Louise Ryan, Saothar, Vol. 17 (1992), pp. 105-111 who were associate members of the IWFL. Their wives

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington Johanna Mary Sheehy Skeffington (née Sheehy; 24 May 1877 – 20 April 1946) was a suffragette and Irish nationalist. Along with her husband Francis Sheehy Skeffington, Margaret Cousins and James Cousins, she founded the Irish Women's Franchis ...

and

Margaret Cousins Margaret Elizabeth Cousins (''née'' Gillespie, also known as Gretta Cousins; 7 November 1878 – 11 March 1954) was an Irish-Indian educationist, suffragist and Theosophist, who established All India Women's Conference (AIWC) in 1927. She was th ...

had founded the IWFL in 1908 and both contributed to the newspaper. After Francis was killed in the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

, Hanna took over as editor. According to Hanna, "The Irish Citizen was founded in May 1912 to further the cause of Woman Suffrage and Feminism in Ireland... In addition it had stood for the rights of Labour, especially the rights of women workers... we stand for the self-determination of Ireland." Other contributors included the cartoonist Ernest Kavanagh, Margaret Connery, Maud Gonne-MacBride, Marion Duggan, Marie Johnson,

Cissie Cahalan Cissie Cahalan (1876 – 27 August 1948) was an Irish trade unionist, feminist, and suffragette. Biography Cahalan was born in either Cork or Tipperary, and was the daughter of a school teacher. She worked in shops in the city of Dublin, mostly ...

Louie Bennett Louie Bennett (Louisa Elizabeth Bennett; 1870 – 1956) was an Irish suffragette, trade unionist, journalist and writer. Born and raised in Dublin, she established the Irish Women's Suffrage Federation in 1911. She was a joint editor and contr ...

, Elizabeth McCracken (LAM Priestley) and Mary Bourke-Dowling and

Lillian Metge Lillian Margaret Metge (née Grubb; 22 June 1871 – 10 May 1954) was an Anglo-Irish suffragette and women's rights campaigner. She founded the Lisburn Suffrage Society, which she left to become a militant activist, leading on an explosion at th ...

. It was initially a weekly eight-page publication and sold for a penny, with an annual subscription of 6 shillings and 6 pence, but later became a monthly with four pages. The paper ceased publication in September 1920.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:The Irish Citizen Political newspapers published in Ireland Defunct newspapers published in Ireland

See also

References