However, it was only when women in Cumann na mBan took part in the risings and military activities that most of the nationalist men began to see them on more equal terms. Their constant references to the women of ancient Ireland often stated that if they wanted to remain true to their ancient Irish roots, they must include women as equal citizens and give them equal rights. Cumann na mBan and Inghinidhe na hÉireann both used their voices to demand women’s inclusion in politics and public life. While many historians have noted that Cumann na mBan was started because the Irish Volunteers did not want to include women in their council, few have noted how the women of Cumann used their unique position to increase the visibility of Irish women in the struggle for independence and created a formidable public persona that set them apart as women and revolutionaries.
Some historians praise the suffragists while painting nationalist women as puppets of the male nationalist organizations however, women in the nationalist movement were able to make more of an impact on the men than suffragists due to their relationship with male revolutionaries. Cumann na mBan and Inghinidhe na hÉireann will be the primary focuses of this work because they used their respective places within the nationalist movement to blur gender roles and to argue for women’s rights. I will also show that women’s involvement in the nationalist struggle was necessary for their inclusion in politics during the first quarter of the Twentieth century, as suffragists alone would never have made an imprint upon the rapidly militarizing society in Ireland during this time.
Many authors wish to draw a strict dichotomy between women who became suffragists and women who became nationalists, but it will be shown that such lines became blurred during this period as more suffragists joined the nationalists and more nationalists gained interest in the suffrage movement. This Thesis examines the concurrence of nationalism with feminism in Ireland during the revolutionary period, 1900-1923.
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