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The Beginnings of Suffrage in Northern Ireland
Isabella Tod founded the North of Ireland Women’s Suffrage Society in 1872-3 -
Period: to
Women's Rights In Ireland Over The Last 150 Years
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The Beginnings of Suffrage in Southern Ireland
Anna and Thomas Haslam founded the Dublin Women’s Suffrage Association (DWSA) in 1876. -
Educational Reform for Women
Successful lobbying by Irish feminists to have the provisions of the 1878 Intermediate Education Act (opened the Intermediate Education Board’s public examinations to girls’ schools as well as boys) and the 1879 University Act (gave women access to degrees in the new Royal University) extended to girls and women. By 1908 courses and degrees in all Irish universities were open to women. -
Voting Rights
The suffragette movement across both Ireland and the United Kingdom was successful and some women were granted the right to vote in 1918, all women aged 21 and over were granted suffrage four years later. However, after Ireland was granted independence, cultural expectations led to women stepping back from public life and predominantly staying at home as homemakers. The strong presence and power of the Roman Catholic Church was incredibly influential in maintaining this. -
First Woman Elected to the House of Commons
Constance Markievicz, a prominent member of the Republican movement, was elected to the House of Commons in 1919, the first woman in both Ireland and the United Kingdom to do so. She later became the first ever female Minister to serve in cabinet under the newly formed Sinn Fein government in Dáil Éireann (Irish parliament). -
Reproductive Rights Gone
The sale and importation of contraceptives was banned in 1932. -
Employment Rights Squeezed
This then led to the Marriage Bar in 1935 being extended to all parts of the civil service and granting the government power to limit the amount of women employed in any industry. This enforced that married female public servants could no longer work. -
Setbacks
In the newly formed Irish Free State, Prime Minister Eamon De Valera and his Fianna Fáil (one of two main parties in Ireland) cabinet wrote the Irish constitution which was heavily influenced by the Roman Catholic Church and made many references to religion. This led to many restrictions placed on women and their autonomy. Divorce was made illegal and not until a public referenda in 1995 was it narrowly passed to give people the right to divorce. -
Inequality Persists
In 1970s Ireland, women were still legally obliged to give up their jobs on marriage and accept lower rates of pay for doing the same work as men if they worked in the public service. They had to cross the border and break the law if they wanted to buy contraception. -
Ireland has to Modernise after Joining the EU
Ireland joined the European Union in 1973, the same year that the Marriage Bar was lifted. Driven by financial recession but The EU stood for social change and human (equal) rights and Ireland had to keep up. In 1973, the Council for the Status of Women was established. -
Equal Pay Directive
The percentage of women in full time employment began to increase as well. The Equal Pay Directive in 1975 stated that sex discrimination on all bases of pay had to be eliminated. -
Further Employment Equality
Another directive was passed that prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex and marital status in reference to promotion or dismissal. -
Second Female Minister Appointed... In 60 years.
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn was appointed to a ministerial position in 1979, the first woman since Constance Markievicz sixty years earlier. The Social Security Directive also came to be in 1979. -
First Female President
In 1990 Mary Robinson was elected as the first female President of Ireland. -
Maternity Leave
1992
Pregnant Workers Directive in 1992 that ensured that women had the statutory right to maternity leave for at least 14 weeks. -
Divorce Legalized
1995
Legal Divorce was allowed -
Second Female President
Mary McAleese followed in 1997 and this was the first time in the world that another woman consecutively was elected as Head of State. During this time there was a major revival of the women’s movement in Ireland. -
Olympic Gold for Katie Taylor
2012
When women were finally allowed to compete inside the boxing ring at the Olympic Games in London 2012, the gold female lightweight medal was won by Irish boxer Katie Taylor. She and her father Peter Taylor told ‘Miriam Meets’ in 2010 that as a child in modern Ireland, Katie had to pretend to be a boy to get into competitions. -
Abortion Rights
66.44% voted yes to repealing the 8th amendment in the 2018 Referendum. This granted women the right to choice in regards to abortion.
