Cumann na Saoirse (''The League for Freedom'') was an Irish republican women's organisation formed in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

in 1922, following a split in

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 ...

History

On 7 January 1922 the

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ( ga , An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the ...

was approved by the

Second Dáil The Second Dáil () was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 16 August 1921 until 8 June 1922. From 1919 to 1922, Dáil Éireann was the revolutionary parliament of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic. The Second Dáil consisted of members elect ...

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. The Pro-Treaty women, headed by

Jennie 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 ...

set up Cumann na Saoirse to replace Cumann na mBan in March 1922. 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.Conlon, pp. 268–270 By July 1923, the Irish Civil War having ended, the organisation was ready to dissolve itself. It enquired to

Richard Mulcahy Richard James Mulcahy (10 May 1886 – 16 December 1971) was an Irish Fine Gael politician and army general who served as Minister for Education from 1948 to 1951 and 1954 to 1957, Minister for the Gaeltacht from June 1956 to October 1956, ...

about transferring membership to an Irish Red Cross, but no such society was set up until 1939.

References

Sources

* * Boylan, Henry, (ed.), ''A Dictionary of Irish Biography'' (Dublin 1999). * Ward, Margaret, 'Marginality and Militancy: Cumann na mBan, 1914-1936', in Austen Morgan and Bob Purdie (eds.), ''Ireland: Divided Nation, Divided Class'' (London 1980).

External links

Cumann na mBan Women's organisations based in Ireland Women's wings of political parties 1922 establishments in Ireland Organizations established in 1922 1923 disestablishments in Ireland Organizations disestablished in 1923 {{Ireland-stub