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Markievicz, Constance Gore‐Booth, Countess

The Oxford Companion to Irish History | 2007 | 700+ words | Copyright

Markievicz, Constance Gore‐Booth, Countess (1868–1927), a leader of the rising of 1916 and one of the most romanticized political figures of the early 20th century. The daughter of a landed Sligo family who had separated amicably from her Polish husband Casimir Markievicz, she became involved initially in Inghinidhe na hÉireann. Later she worked closely with James Connolly, ran a soup kitchen in Liberty Hall during the Dublin lockout of 1913, set up the Fianna as a male youth organization for the Irish Volunteers in 1909, and took part in the 1916 rising as commandant in the Irish Citizen Army. Released from prison in 1917, she was honorary president of the Irish Women Workers' Union. She was the first woman ever elected to the House of Commons in 1918, but as a member of Sinn Féin did not take her seat, serving instead as minister of labour in the first Dáil. Like most women active in politics she opposed the Anglo‐Irish treaty, and later joined Fianna Fáil. She died in a public ward of a Dublin hospital, and the working‐class people of Dublin lined the streets for her funeral.

Caitriona Clear

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"Markievicz, Constance Gore‐Booth, Countess." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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