Cumann na mBan During the Irish War for Independence

Cumann na mBan was created in 1914 to serve as a nationalist organization for women. It would late be associated as an auxiliary unit for the Irish Volunteers and then Sinn Fein. They were rarely acknowledged as an independent movement (which is why some feminists like Hanna Sheehy Skeffington would never be a member of Cumann na mBan) and most of the women accepted that their role in the revolution was to support the actions of the IRA and Sinn Fein via the Dail. The group started as a nationalist group for all women but as Home Rule polarized Irish society, Cumann na mBan drifted to a more militant stance, just like the Irish Volunteers. They lost several members through this evolution, but their goal became stronger and clearer.

Even though they were a small group, they took their drilling and training very seriously. A member of Cumann na mBan would learn basic gun safety, care, and how to fire one, how to march and drill, and first aid. When they weren’t training, they were traveling all over the country raising funds for the cause. They collected money through house visits, church collections, and by hosting dances and concerts. The dance and concerts drew the youth of Ireland, allowing Cumann na mBan to introduce them to nationalist rhetoric and goals.

During the War for Independence, Cumann na mBan served in a supportive, but vital role. Many served as spies, scouts, messengers, smugglers, and keepers of the IRA’s hideouts. When the IRA needed a place to hide, they would often reach out to a Cumann na mBan member they knew and asked them to find a safe house. They trusted the woman’s recommendation because she was often known to them, but also because she was a member of Cumann na mBan.

The women of Cumann na mBan were successful as spies, smugglers, and keepers of important documents because of the British Army’s sexism. Often, the woman in a safe house would use her charms to delay the British soldiers while an IRA member escaped, used their own persons to hide documents, and used their sex to shame the British soldiers of their rough treatment of them. Often times, women who worked in key positions in the British apparatus were invisible to their British employers and were thus able to smuggle documents or even delay important messages between British barracks, buying the IRA forces time to either plan a counterattack or escape. Michael Collins took advantage of the invisibility of women to gather his intelligence. He even told his trusted agents to stop attending Cumann na mBan events so they wouldn’t draw attention to themselves. If the women weren’t in Ireland, they were abroad, usually in the United States speaking, campaigning, and fundraising.

Cumann na mBan members weren’t directly on the front line, but they still ran the same kind of risks because they were often dealing directly with the British soldiers. They were the ones who had to deal with the frequent house raids, abuse, and the perpetual fear of their partners being arrested and what that would mean for the family.

On top of that, they had to deal with the misogyny and sexism of certain IRA officers and Sinn Fein members. Some men were outright very dismissive of Cumann na mBan’s contribution, believing that it was only natural for women to serve a supportive role and they were doing no more than their regular “womanly” duties. Other men were initially skeptical and slowly softened their opinion once the women proved themselves. Others trusted them right away and relied heavily on them – but even these men didn’t stop to think of what Irish women wanted, needed, and hoped would be achieved with independence. It was one thing to acknowledge a woman was resourceful and useful, another to consider her to be a true equal, with an equal right to determine the future of Ireland. While several Cumann na mBan records detail some of these sexist encounters, the women remained dedicated to the nationalist cause and did all they could to assist the IRA and Sinn Fein.

By the time the Irish War of Independence ended with a truce, 50 Irish people had been jailed during the war (including several Cumann na mBan women) and many others experienced domestic raids and also physical and sexual violence at the hands of British forces. Cumann na mBan believed this dedication had earned them the right to help shape Ireland’s future. Instead, they weren’t even invited to send a delegate to negotiate with the British Empire. The only women who traveled with Griffith, Collins, and the others were secretaries. The Irish men’s complete ignorance and/or disregard of their women counterparts could not have been clearer.

Cumann na mBan and the Treaty

The Cumann na mBan executive held a meeting in January and decided to reject the treaty. They were the first organization to do so. They publicly announced their position, stating:

“The Executive of Cumann na mBan reaffirms their allegiance to the Irish Republic and therefore cannot support the Articles of the Treaty signed in London.”

Cal McCarthy, Cumann na mBan and the Irish Revolution, pg. 177

However, the executive had not asked its many branches how they felt about the treaty and so another convention was held on February 5^th, 1922. During the meeting Jennie Wyse Powers and Min Mulcahy (formerly Min Ryan), asked the group to support the treaty, or at least wait until Sinn Fein and the IRA decided how they felt. Mary MacSwiney was dismissive, claiming that she didn’t need to wait to see what the men would decide. This is a very different sentiment from when the organization was first created and decided to be an auxiliary of Sinn Fein. This time, women were deciding first and for themselves. Even though women like Mary MacSwiney, Constance Markievicz, and others were passionate and vehement opponents of the treaty, they didn’t represent many Cumann na mBan members.

Cumann na Saoirse

Women like Jennie Wyse Powers (who founded Cumann na mBan) and Min Mulcahy left Cumann na mBan and went pro-treaty. Jennie Wyse Powers would create Cumann na Saoirse, a pro-treaty organization, to counter Cumann na mBan’s influence. Cumann na Saoirse was strongest in Dublin and Cork city with branches in Wexford, Wicklow, Monaghan, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Leitrim, Sligo, Meath, and Kildare. They organized dances, concerts, travel hostels, and railway canteens for the national army while also supplying comforts like cigarettes, fruit, and playing cards to the wounded. They also, far more quietly and less publicly, served as searchers in the prisons, searching the bodies of their former comrades and friends when they were interned. Some anti-treaty women called the Cumann na Saoirse the “Cumann na Searchers.”

The anti-treaty IRA considered Cumann na Saoirse enough of a threat to warrant recording who was involved and tailing some of its members. The anti-treaty IRA burnt down Jennie Wyse Power’s house in December 1922 and her restaurant in February 1923. They would also throw a bomb in Cumann na Saoirse’s headquarters in 1923. In the countryside, especially in Cork, the anti-treaty IRA targeted Free State women, burning their abodes, shaving their heads, and harassing them.

Many women simply left politics and the nationalist cause once Cumann na mBan went anti-treaty. They left either to care for their families, to try and rebuild their lives in a new Irish state, or simply because they didn’t believe enough in either cause to willingly fight against their friends, family members, and neighbors. This reduced the total number of branches and members Cumann na mBan had during the Irish Civil War, and hardened Cumann na mBan’s resolve to resist the Free State government at all costs.

The Treaty Debates

During the treaty debate, women TDs, many of whom were Cumann na mBan members, provided a powerful and furious attack on the treaty and the pro-treaty members of the Dail. When they weren’t speaking, Constance Markievicz and Mary MacSwiney frequently interrupted pro-treaty speakers with questions and comments. Other women used their loss of husbands, brothers, and sons to justify their interest and right in, not just opposing the treaty, but being involved in shaping Ireland’s future.

Many pro-treaty TDs accused the women TDs of being overly emotional and angry, allowing their own sense of loss to blind them to the “greater good” of Ireland. Fionan Lynch argued that:

“Now we have a great deal of emotion here and a great deal of emotional speeches about the dead. I say for myself that the bones of the dead have been rattled indecently in the face of this assembly.”

Claire McGing, ‘Women of Character,” pg. 48

Even though Margaret Pearse and Kathleen Clarke mentioned their deceased sons and husband in their speeches against the treaty, others like Mary MacSwiney (who spoke for hours straight) and Constance Markievicz, didn’t mention the dead, focusing on the specific reasons why the treaty was unacceptable with Constance providing a labor perspective. In fact, the women were offended by the accusation of using the dead for their own aims with Kathleen O’Callaghan stating that:

“The women of An Dail are women of character, and they will vote for principle, not for expediency”

Claire McGing, Women of Character, pg. 50

And Dr. Ada English argued that she had:

“No dead men to throw in my teeth as a reason for holding the opinions I hold”

Claire McGing, Women of Character, pg. 50

In addition to speaking against the treaty in the Dail, members of Cumann na mBan also campaigned to support Kathleen O’Callaghan’s motion to expand the electorate by allowing women over 21 to vote. Currently, only women with property and were over 30 could vote. Even though the pro-treaty TDs argued that this was just another attempt to derail the treaty, women on all political spectrums, felt this was their natural right. Women had played an important role in fighting for Ireland’s independence. It was only right and fair (and promised in the Easter Proclamation) that all women would have the same opportunities as men to shape their government and futures. O’Callaghan challenged the pro-treaty TDs, asking why were they so afraid of expanding the electorate if they truly believed the treaty was supported by a majority of the Irish people. Arthur Griffith, a long-time supporter of women’s right to vote, gravely disappointed all feminists when he refused to update the electoral register to include this wave of new voters, arguing that it would take too long to update, further jeopardizing Ireland’s future. The general election was delayed anyway as Collins and De Valera worked on a pact that would ensure it would be a free election and to avoid further bloodshed.

All six women TDs ran for re-election in the June 1922 general election, but only Mary MacSwiney and Kathleen O’Callaghan won.

Cumann na mBan during the Irish Civil War

Cumann na mBan took traditionally masculine military roles during the Irish Civil War. They carried arms, served as quartermasters, ran to and fro in war zones, offered medical care, served as spies and messengers, and organized the collection and distribution of weapons. They organized safehouses and had to go on the run multiple times or end up in jail where they would go on hunger strike to protest the Free State. They were also responsible for a lot of the anti-treaty IRA propaganda.

For example, Elizabeth Maguire was quartermaster for the IRA’s Dublin Brigade and was involved in 28 attacks against the Free State soldiers. Sighle Humphries led an armed Cumann na mBan unit to free a wounded anti-treaty soldier from a Free State hospital. Sighle was also involved in the gun battle that ended with Ernie O’Malley’s arrest. Nora Cunningham, a spy for the anti-treaty IRA, remembered her experiences with the Free State soldiers:

“The IRA columns were now moving around the outskirts of Macroom and with other members of Cumann na mBan I was engaged in maintaining contact with them and reporting on the activities and movements of the Free State forces in the town…I managed to get through on a few occasions as I had disguised myself by wearing a Macroom hooded cloak, but eventually some local officers of the Free State forces, who had been in the IRA before the truce, suspected me and I was informed that I would not be allowed to leave Macroom town.”

Cal McCarthy, Cumann na mBan and the Irish Revolution, pg. 201

Cumann na mBan took on the added responsibility of providing the military escort and honors during the funeral of anti-treaty officers. Cumann na mBan member Eileen McGrane remembers Harry Boland’s funeral:

“At the funeral Cumann na mBan took charge as the men did not appear. Sigle Humphreys and I were in charge and walked at the head of the cortege to Glasnevin. There were several bands playing the dead march on the route. It was very solemn and sad and left on me an unforgettable impression.”

Cal McCarthy, Cumann na mBan, pg. 200

 

Not only did Cumann na mBan members serve as a military escort for Cathal Brugha’s funeral, per his wife’s request, they also warned off any pro-treaty supporters who thought about attending the funeral.

The anti-treaty IRA members, who weren’t diehard feminists themselves, noticed and appreciated the commitment of Cumann na mBan and almost seemed less threatened by them the pro-treaty side by the women’s involvement. Ernie O’Malley, an anti-treaty IRA member wrote:

“During the Tan war the girls had always helped but they never had sufficient status. Now they were our comrades, loyal, willing and incorruptible comrades. Indefatigable, they put the men to shame by their individual zeal and initiative.”

Maryann Gialanella Valiulis, the Making of Inequality, pg. 43

It is doubtful if this sentiment would have survived an anti-treaty victory or if Irish women’s needs would have been addressed by an anti-treaty republic.

Given their more prominent role during the Irish Civil War, it’s not surprising that Cumann na mBan fatalities doubled their Irish War of Independence numbers.

Mary Hartney was the first Cumann na mBan casualty of the war. She died on August 4^th, 1922, while providing first aid to anti-treaty soldiers during an artillery bombardment.

The second Cumann na mBan victim was Lily Bennett. She was attending a rally hosted by the Republican Prisoner’s Defence Committee when the Free State soldiers opened fire, wounding seven people, including Lily. She would die from her wounds on November 18^th, 1922.

Margaret Dunne died during a Free State reprisal. On April 8^th, 1923, a Free State soldier was wounded during a gunfight. Ten minutes after the gunfight, that’s soldier’s captain, spotted Margaret Dunne and another anti-treaty IRA member and shot at them, killing Margaret. The local anti-treaty IRA risked arrest and execution to provide the military escort for her funeral.

Annie ‘Nan’ Hogan was the final casualty. She had organized safe houses during the Irish War of Independence, so she was well known amongst both the anti-treaty IRA and the Free State soldiers. Late in 1922, several anti-treaty prisoners tried to escape Limerick jail by digging a tunnel. The escape plot was betrayed and on the night of the attempted escape, the Free State soldiers arrested several Cumann na mBan women waiting outside the prison, including Nan Hogan. She was sent to Kilmainham jail and went on hunger strike in March 1923, demanding better conditions and POW status. The hunger strike was eventually called off when it was clear the Free State government wouldn’t budge, but the damage had already been done for Nan Hogan. She was released in September 1923 and died a short time later, her family and friends believing the hunger strike and the conditions of Kilmainham killed her.

The Irish Free State used Cumann na mBan’s heavy involvement as a way to cast them as crazed, passionate witches who both instigated extremism and threatened anti-treaty masculinity. They weren’t “proper Irish women,” but bloodthirsty hags and banshees. They belittled women who were related to national heroes like Mary MacSwiney and Margaret Pearse, calling them shrill, emotional, and bitter; accusing them of threatening Ireland’s future for “personal reasons” and for “being blinded by their grief.” P.S. O’Hegarty, who sounds like an ass, wrote that Dublin was full of “hysterical women” who were “unlovely, destructive-minded, arid begetters of violence.” He blamed them, in particular, for the bitterness and ferocity of the civil war. (Maryann Gialanella Valiulis, the Making of Inequality, pg. 44)

This hatred and villainization of women would bode ill for them after the civil war and the Cosgrave Administration was able to let its misogyny hang out without reservations.

The pro-treaty side chose to completely ignore the very real concern women had about losing their equality and their rights. Yes, the women were fighting for a republic, because the republic was the only entity that explicitly granted equality to everyone. Relying on the 1916 Proclamation, many anti-treaty women argued that they were rejecting a British sponsored puppet government that was rejecting all aspects of the republic – including the all-important equality clause. The Irish Civil war wasn’t just a fight over semantics or different understandings of republic versus state, total freedom versus guided or staged freedom, for many women, it was a literal fight for their rights and their lives. Unfortunately, the Cosgrave and De Valera administrations only justified their worst fears.

References

Cumann na mBan and the Irish Revolution by Cal McCarthy

The Women Who Died for Ireland by Padraig Og O Ruairc

‘Women of character’: Women’s Political Representation in Dáil Éireann in Revolutionary and Post-Revolutionary Ireland by Claire McGing

Women and the Irish Revolution by Linda Connolly

The Making of Inequality by Maryann Gialanella Valiulis

Vivid Faces by R. F. Foster

The Republic by Charles Townshend