Women In 20th Century Ireland

Question 1

Change in Politics

Answer 1

1900, women were legally inferior: no vote, limited education/employment rights.
The suffrage movement campaigned for women’s voting rights.
Hannah Sheehy Skeffington founded the Irish Women’s Franchise League in 1908.
Suffragettes used protests, parades, property attacks, and hunger strikes.
Cumann na mBan (1914) supported the Home Rule cause and fought in the 1916 Rising.
Constance Markievicz became the first female MP in 1918.
The Representation of the People Act (1918) gave:
All men over 21 the vote
Only women over 30 the vote
The Irish Free State gave women equal voting rights (over 21).
Few women were elected to the Dáil; little political impact early on.
Maire Geoghegan-Quinn became the first female minister (Gaeltacht, 1979).
After joining the EEC (1972), Ireland was pressured to reform:
1973: Marriage Bar lifted
1976: Anti-Discrimination Act (equal pay)
1977: Employment Equality Act (banned gender/marital discrimination)
1978: Contraception legalised
1996: Divorce legalised
1990: Mary Robinson elected first female president

Question 2

Change in Employment

Answer 2

✅ Shortened Bullet Points: Role of Women in Work (20th Century Ireland)
Women were expected to marry and raise children, not work.
Husbands provided income, so working was seen as unnecessary for wives.
45% of national school teachers were women before marriage.
Marriage Bar: women had to leave their jobs once married.
Poorer women often worked as domestic servants (cooks, maids, nannies).
Urban women: worked in factories or as street traders.
Rural women: worked on farms and cared for children/animals.
Women were always paid less than men for the same work.

⚖️ Magdalene Laundries
Unmarried pregnant women were sent to Magdalene laundries to avoid family shame.
Run by Catholic nuns, where women worked without pay.
Babies were often adopted without consent.
Last laundry closed in 1996.
Irish government apologised in 2013.

🏛️ After Independence
Women still worked low-paid jobs.
1932: Marriage Bar became law — married women banned from work.
1936: Conditions of Employment Act limited how many women could work in each industry.
In economic crises, women were first to lose jobs.
Trade unions supported firing women first and paying men more.

📈 Later Progress
1946: Only 2.5% of married women had jobs.
1960s: Economic liberalisation created more jobs — many went to women.
By 1970, women made up 25% of the workforce.
1973: Marriage Bar removed.
Anti-Discrimination Act banned unequal pay.
By 2000, 40% of the workforce were women.

Question 3

Socially and Educationally

Answer 3

🎓 Education
Female school attendance increased during the 1800s.
By 1908, all Irish universities were open to women.
Only wealthy women could afford third-level education.
Pre-WWI: Only 10% of university students were female.
Alice Oldham campaigned for women to attend Trinity College – achieved in 1904.
Trinity now has an award named after her.

🕊️ Society & Restrictions
Catholic Church had major influence on politics and policy.
The belief that “women belonged in the home” was widely accepted.
Contraception was illegal until 1978;
Divorce was illegal until 1995

✊ Feminist Movement
Feminism: push for gender equality (political, social, economic).
Global rise of feminism in the 1960s.
Irish Women’s Liberation Movement founded in 1971.
Organised protests and awareness events.
Famous protest: took a train to Belfast, returned with contraceptives to highlight the ban in the Republic.

🏅 Sporting Role Models
Sonia O’Sullivan and Katie Taylor won Olympic and World medals.
Both became symbols of female achievement in Ireland.