Constance Markievicz

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Vintagekits (talk | contribs) at 14:18, 5 August 2006. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 14:18, 5 August 2006 by Vintagekits (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

File:Wmarko.jpg

Countess Markiewicz

Constance, Countess Markiewicz (4 February, 1868 – 15 July, 1927), was an Irish politician, nationalist and revolutionary.

Early Life

Born Constance Georgine Gore-Booth in Buckingham Gate, London, the elder daughter of baronet and explorer, Sir Henry Gore-Booth, but unlike many landowners in Ireland, he treated his tenants with concern. Therefore, Markiewicz was brought up in a household that showed care and concern to those on the family estate of Lissadell House in County Sligo in the north west of Ireland. Her sister, Eva, would later involve herself in the labour movement in England - and women's suffrage. The future countess did not share, at this time, her sister's aspirations Constance and her younger sister, Eva Gore-Booth, were close friends of the Anglo-Irish poet, W. B. Yeats, who frequently visited the house, and were influenced by his artistic and political ideas.

Marraige and Early Politics

Constance wanted to be an artist and in 1893 she studied art at the Slade School in Londonand then in Paris, where in the same year she met and marriedPolish/Ukrainian artist, Count Casimir Dunin-Markiewicz. He was from a wealthy Polish family but was already married when he met Constance. However, his wife died in 1899 and he married Constance in 1901 making her Countess Markiewicz.

They settled in Dublin, Ireland in 1903 and the Countess gained a reputation for herself as a landscape artist. In 1905, the Countess founded and funded the United Artists Club which was an attempt to bring together all those in Dublin with an artistic bent. At this moment in time there was nothing tangible to link her to basic politics, let alone a drive for Ireland's independence from British rule. Then in 1906, something happened which pushed the Countess headlong into Irish politics and away from art. In 1906, she rented out a small cottage in the countryside around Dublin. The person who had previously rented it was a poet called Pádraic Colum. He had left behind old copies of The Peasant and Sinn Féin. These were revolutionary publications that pushed for independence from British rule. The Countess read those publications that were left behind and was taken in by what they wanted.

In 1908, the Countess became actively involved in nationalist politics in Ireland. She joined Sinn Fein and Inghinidhe na hÉireann - a women's movement. In the same year, the Countess stood for Parliament. She contested the Manchester constituency where her most famous opponent was Winston Churchill. The Countess lost the election but in the space of two years she had gone from a life oriented around art to a life oriented around Irish politics and independence in particular.

In 1909, she founded Na Fianna Éireann which was a form of Republican Boy Scouts but with a military input, including the use of firearms. Patrick Pearse said that the creation of Na Fianna Éireann was as important as the creation of the Irish Volunteers in 1913. In 1911, the Countess was jailed for the first time for her part in the demonstrations that took place against the visit of George V. In the lock-out of 1913, she joined James Connolly`s Irish Citizens Army and she ran a soup kitchen to aid those who who could not afford food.

Easter Rising

In 1913, her husband moved to the Ukraine (possibly because of his wife's activities), and never returned. As a member of the ICA she took part in the 1916 Easter Rising, wounding a British sniper at one point. Captured by her cousin, she was sentenced to death by the British government. However, General Maxwell, the officer commanding the court martial procedure, commuted her sentence to life in prison on account of the fact that she was female.

The Countess was released from prison in 1917, along with others involved in the Uprising, as the government in London granted a General Amnesty for those involved in the Easter Rising. It was around this time that Markiewicz - born into the Church of Ireland - converted to Catholicism.

First Dáil

In 1918, she was jailed again for her part in anti-conscription activities. In the December 1918 general election, Markiewicz was elected for the constituency of Dublin St Patrick's as one of 73 Sinn Féin MPs. This made her the first woman elected to the British House of Commons. However, in line with Sinn Féin policy, she refused to take her seat.

Countess Markiewicz joined her colleagues assembled in Dublin as the first incarnation of Dáil Éireann, the unilaterally-declared Parliament of the Irish Republic. She was re-elected to the Second Dáil in the House of Commons of Southern Ireland elections of 1921. She also converted to Roman Catholicism some time after the Easter Rising.

Markiewicz served as Minister for Labour from April 1919 to January 1922, in the Second Ministry and the Third Ministry of the Dáil. Holding cabinet rank from April to August 1919, she became the first Irish female Cabinet Minister. She was the only female cabinet minister in Irish history until 1979 when Máire Geoghegan-Quinn was appointed to the then junior cabinet post of Minster for the Gaeltacht for Fianna Fáil.

Civil War and Fiann Fáil

Markiewicz left government in January 1922 along with Eamon de Valera and others in opposition to the Anglo-Irish Treaty.She fought actively for the Republican cause in the Irish Civil War. After the War she toured America. She was not elected in the Irish general election of 1922 but was returned in the 1923 election for the Dublin South constituency. In common with other Republican candidates, she did not take her seat. However her staunch republican views led her to being sent to jail again. In prison, she and 92 other female prisoners went on hunger strike. Within a month, the Countess was released. The hunger-strikes of the Suffragettes had been a huge embarrassment to the British government before the war.

She joined Fianna Fáil on its foundation in 1926. In the June 1927 election, she was re-elected to the 5th Dáil as a candidate for the new Fianna Fáil party, which was pledged to return to Dáil Éireann, but died only five weeks later, before taking her seat.

She died at the age of 59, on 15 July, 1927, after a short illness, and is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, Ireland.

The by-election for her Dáil seat in Dublin South was held on 24th August and won by the Cumann na nGaedhael candidate Thomas Hennessy.

External links

Detailed Countess Markiewicz info on http://www.TheWildGeese.com
Article on Constance Markiewicz

Categories:

Misplaced Pages