Herstory: Suffragette Walking Tour
Venue: Starting from City Hall
Dates: 15th - 19th March
Time: 15th–16th: 5pm and 18th–19th: 11am
Tickets: €7
The suffrage movement in Ireland has been overshadowed by the events that took place in 1912-1923. This walking tour will highlight some of the key figures and events undertaken by very courageous women in their efforts to win equality for women.
The suffrage movement came to the fore in the mid to late 19th century. Initially the movement relied on constitutional methods to win support for their cause, but in the early years of the 20th century, more campaigners began to emerge such as Hannah Sheehy Skeffington, Margaret Cousins, who set up the Irish Women’s Franchise League (IWFL) in 1908. They were followed by Louie Bennett and Helen Chenevix who founded the Irish Women’s Suffrage Federation in 1911. The IWFL was a more militant body with close ties to the Women’s Social and Political Union and Sylvia Pankhurst.
WWI changed the whole political spectrum in Ireland and from 1916 on, Irish independence dominated everything. But the suffragettes did not go away. Many supported the Independence movement, sadly though, in the new Ireland that emerged, the rights of women were far from realised.
Stops on the tour will include City Hall, Rosie Hackett Bridge, Nassau Street/Dawson Street and the Mansion House.