The Dynamics of War and Revolution: Cork City, 1916-1918

VIII. Gender, Nationalism and Cork Cumann na mBan, 1916–18

139 Then here’s to the women of Ireland Who bravely faced death in the van Old Ireland is proud of her daughters Hurray for the Cumann na mBan (A song for the Cumann na mBan, circa 1919)1 Cork Cumann na mBan played a key role in the evolution of the independence movement from 1916 to 1918. Though it initially served as an auxiliary to the Irish Volunteers, Cumann na mBan assumed new responsibilities, primarily managing fundraising and the care of political prisoners. Though Cork’s republican leadership largely excluded Cumann na mBan from decision-making in 1916 and 1917, during 1918 the assertive organisation had joined the republican front. Gender and Political Identities Prior to 1914, the Munster Women’s Franchise League (MWFL, headquartered in the city) had been Cork’s most dynamic female political organisation. At the outbreak of the First World War, many MWFL suffragettes took a pro-war stance that reflected their unionist identity . In August 1914, the MWFL organised an ambulance company for the National Volunteers; in September it trained members in home nursing, first aid and invalid cooking; and in December 1914 it purchased a military ambulance for local use.2 Similarly, the smaller Cork branch of the Irish Women’s Suffrage and Local Government Association knitted socks for Irish prisoners of war.3 The focus on war relief disrupted the MWFL, and it became ‘almost crippled’ by the loss of branch officers to the war effort.4 The leadership turnover included Cork’s most prominent suffragette, Poor Law Guardian Susanne Day, who resigned her post to serve as a military nurse in France.5 Participation in the war effort also sparked internal divisions VIII. Gender, Nationalism and Cork Cumann na mBan, 1916–18 within the MWFL, as republican Mary MacSwiney quit the organisation in protest at its focus on ‘war propaganda’.6 The suffragette newspaper the Irish Citizen criticised the MWFL’s pro-war emphasis, claiming it ‘went to sleep at the outbreak of the war’, and subsequently retired ‘from active service’.7 In turn, the MWFL disassociated from the newspaper because of the latter’s anti-war rhetoric.8 Divided and diverted by the war, the MWFL faded from relevance after early 1915.9 Other feminists beyond Cork joined the war effort in urban Ireland, Britain and the United States. More could be found in the Ulster Volunteer Force.10 Cumann na mBan should be contextualised as one of many political mobilisations of women during this period. A limited number of Cork Cumann na mBan leaders were suffragettes active in the MWFL.11 Both Mary MacSwiney and Alice Cashel served on the MWFL executive until late 1914, along with Poor Law Guardian Marie Lynch who defected to Sinn Féin in 1917.12 Though supportive of women’s suffrage, Cork Cumann na mBan focused primarily on the independence question. It displayed little interest in local gender issues, such as alleged drunkenness among separation women, sexual immorality, and the venereal disease scare (discussed in the preceding chapter). The Cork Cumann na mBan leadership came from the city’s vibrant separatist community, active since the turn of the century. In 1905, Maude Gonne formed a Cork branch of the women’s separatist organisation , Inghinidhe na hÉireann (Daughters of Erin), whose members included future Cumann na mBan leaders Nora O’Brien, Margaret (Madge) O’Leary, and Annie and Susan Walsh.13 Indicating the close cooperation between male and female separatists, Cork Inghinidhe na hÉireann shared rooms with the Celtic Literary Society, and later combined with it to form the city’s first Sinn Féin branch.14 A number of Cumann na mBan leaders also played camogie, and many joined the Gaelic League’s republican O’Growney Branch.15 Some women were connected with prominent male republicans, such as Mary MacSwiney (sister of Terence), Madeleine O’Hegarty (wife of Seán), and May and Lil Conlon (sisters of Sinn Féin’s Seán). Others also joined the separatist circle on their own initiative. Sinead McCoole’s No Ordinary Women: Irish Female Activists in the Revolutionary Years, 1900–1923 offers the most detailed Cumann na mBan leadership profiles yet produced. Unfortunately, McCoole’s list is skewed towards Dubliners from the middle and upper classes.16 For a more nuanced understanding of the organisation, systematic studies of its provincial leadership are needed. 140 The Dynamics of War and Revolution In Cork...