Women in 20th Century

• The Early 20th Century: Women as Second-Class Citizens

  • In 1900, women in Ireland faced significant legal and social restrictions: they could not vote, had limited property and education rights, and workplace discrimination was legal.
• Education

  • The number of girls attending school increased in the 1800s due to Catholic religious orders. However, it wasn't until 1908 that all Irish universities opened to women.
  • By the early 20th century, women made up about 10% of university students, mainly from wealthy and middle-class backgrounds.
• Voting Rights

  • Suffrage: The campaign for women's voting rights. Women who campaigned for this were known as suffragettes.

  Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington founded the Irish Women’s Franchise League (IWFL) in 1908, which used parades, attacks on property, and hunger strikes to campaign for women's votes.
• Employment

  • Women were expected to marry and have children, with middle-class women often having servants. Women who had jobs, such as national school teachers, had to leave them upon marriage.
  • Poorer women worked as domestic servants, street traders, or in the Belfast mills, earning lower wages than men. Rural women worked on farms and managed households.
• Women in the Independence Movement

  • In 1914, Cumann na mBan was founded to support the independence movement and became an auxiliary force to the Irish Volunteers in 1916.
  • Women like Countess Constance Markievicz, Dr. Kathleen Lynn, and Margaret Skinnider participated in the Easter Rising as fighters and messengers. Military pensions were often denied to these women.
  • In 1918, Constance Markievicz became the first woman elected to Westminster but did not take her seat. She later served as Minister for Labour in the First Dáil.
• Independent Ireland: Women and Politics

  • The 1922 Constitution of the Irish Free State granted voting rights to all women and men over 21. However, the new Irish state was conservative and Catholic, emphasizing women's roles within the home. Divorce and contraception were banned, and women could not serve on juries.
• Employment in Independent Ireland

  • Women continued working in low-paid jobs. The 1935 Conditions of Employment Act limited the number of women in any industry, and the 1932 "marriage bar" meant women lost their public service jobs upon marriage. By 1946, only 2.5% of married women were employed in Ireland compared to 25% in Britain. Higher emigration rates among women occurred in the 1940s and 1950s.
• The 1960s: Gradual Change

  • Economic expansion in the 1960s led to more jobs for women, who by 1970 made up 25% of the workforce. Women benefited from free education and increased access to universities. Shows like the Late Late Show debated controversial topics, changing societal attitudes over time.
• The Irish Feminist Movement

  • Part of the global struggle for gender equality, the feminist movement aimed at political, social, and economic equality between men and women. In 1971, the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement was founded, advocating for change and protesting against contraception laws by bringing contraceptives from Belfast to the Republic.
• Changes from the 1970s to the 1990s

  • 1972: The Commission on the Status of Women recommended removing legal barriers to equality.
  • 1973: The marriage bar was abolished.
  • 1974: The Anti-Discrimination Act banned paying men more than women for the same work.
  • 1977: The Employment Equality Act outlawed discrimination based on sex or marital status.
  • 1979: Marie Geoghegan-Quinn became the first female government minister since the First Dáil.
  • 1993: The ban on contraception was fully lifted.
  • 1996: Divorce was introduced following a referendum.
• The Position of Women at the End of the Century

  • Politics and Law: Mary Robinson elected President in 1990, followed by Mary McAleese in 1997. Mary Harney became the first female leader of a political party and Tánaiste.
  • Education and Employment: By 2000, women made up over 40% of the workforce but were more likely to have low-paid jobs. They constituted 55% of university students and pursued professional careers more than previous generations.