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Women:

Pre independence women had campaigned for the female franchise plus other reforms in education, employment and law.
1918 = vote for women over 30 - Markievicz elected to the Dail and fights for equal rights for all as stated in the 1916 Proclamation.
1919 Suffragist movement sought equal pay for equal work, equal marriage laws, equality under the law, female jurors and justices.
NB: They sought the complete abolition of social, political and economic bias against women.
1920s = After WWI feminism in Ireland waned. The Free State Constitution of 1922 did little to improve the lot of Irish women.
Politicians said that Irish feminists did not represent Irish women as most of them were educated Protestants and thus not in
tune with the main group of Irish women who were Catholic. Government laws enacted during the 1920s limited womens
opportunities in Irish society. These included the marriage ban, ban on birth control and no female jurors or justices. As most
feminists were educated Protestants, many Catholic women felt they did not represent them. Additionally, being Protestant,
most elected female TDs voted against the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1922 and subsequently did not take up their positions in
government. This left the female voice in government very weak and was easily ignored by male politicians. After
independence, the Church view of women was that they should stay at home and look after their families. This was the
prevailing view across all political parties and was thus supported by legislation. The Churchs teachings on women gave
moral credence to that of the political parties as the Catholic Church in Ireland held much stay over all walks of Irish life.
1930s = By the 1930s women still had their inferior place within Irish society; low pay for equal work, no jurors or justices and
marriage ban still in place. This was due to a number of factors. Firstly Dev thought that a womans place was in the home,
being a good mother and wife. Secondly, the Church agreed and thus espoused such notions from the pulpit every Sunday.
Thirdly, womens movements in the 1930s were fractious and weak.
1937 = Devs Constitution: Article 16 gave everyone 21 and over the vote. However, other articles said that women should never have
to work at the neglect of their families. As Devs constitution was in place for decades, there was little change in the plight of
women within Irish society for those decades.
Womens Organisations:
1. Irish Women Workers Union: The IWWU was founded in 1911 and fought for equal pay and employment conditions for
Irish women.
2. Irish Countrywomens Association: The ICA believed that a womans place was in the home, supporting her husband and
caring for her family. The ICA organised classes in needlework and cookery and promoted charity work. They promoted the
virtue of being a good farmers wife.
3. Irish Housewifes Association: The IHA was founded in 1941 by Hilda Tweedy. The IHA was politically motivated from the
start and fought for better conditions for Irish housewives. The IHA fought against Devs continued rationing after the war and
supported the call for equal womens rights. The IHA sought to unite all women across Ireland in the search for better
conditions for all Irish women. In the 1950s the IHA joined other feminist organisations from across Europe and became
involved in the global feminist movements of the 1960s.
National Commission on the Status of Women: In the 1960s the UN put forward a directive to examine the conditions affecting the
status of women in each country in the UN. It also urged all member countries to establish a Commission on the Status of Women in
their own countries. In 1968 the IHA held a meeting to identify areas of discrimination against women in Irish society. The National
Commission on the Status of Women was set up to address these findings. The National Commission on the Status of Women published
its findings in 1972; 47 recommendations to improve the conditions of women in Ireland. The Council for the Status of Women was
then set up to oversee the implementation of the findings of the National Commission on the Status of Women in Ireland. Many if the
findings of the National Commission on the Status of Women were the subject of the second wave of Irish feminism of the 1970s.
1970s IWLM (Mary Kenny, Nell McCafferty, etc):
Improvements: Free second level education, university placements for women and the widening of the franchise brought new
opportunities for women in education and employment
Outstanding: Continued inequalities = inequality of paying conditions and retarded legislation - the marriage bar.
IWLM Manifesto Chains or Change: Five Good Reasons Why It Is Better to Live in Sin. Single women could keep their jobs, pay
less tax and can keep their identity as individuals. Bewleys Caf
Issues: Equal pay, equality before the law, equal rights to education, availability of contraception and justice for deserted wives,
unmarried mothers and widows.
EEC (1973): Irelands entry to the EED in 1973 gave Irish feminism a legal framework from which to work, as the equality laws of
Europe guaranteed the equal rights of women in all aspects of life. Additionally, as part of its application to join the EEC, the Irish
government had commenced a Commission on the Status of Women in order to bring its laws on equality into line with those of Europe.
Shock Tactics; The Late Late Show, picketing ArchB John McQuaid house, Condom Train to Belfast, Supreme Court case for Female
Jurors.
Resolved:
1970 = Deserted Wives benefit

1973 = Unmarried Mothers Allowance


1973 = Marriage bar lifted
1976 = The Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children)
1977 = The Employment Equality Act prohibited discrimination on the grounds of gender.
The Aftermath:
The ILWM waned during the mid-1970s but they had started a move towards equality for women in all aspects of Irish life. By the
1980s all political parties openly sought the female vote and actively encouraged women to stand for them in all levels of elections;
local, national, European and presidential. In 1990 Mary Robinson was elected President of Ireland, declaring; It was a great day for
the women of Ireland [] who, instead of rocking the cradle, rocked the system

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