In 1983 I presented the following to the Kilmainham Jail Restoration
Committee, where it hangs to this day. As far as I know it was one of
the first attempts by anyone to write a history of the Cumann. Extracts
from this history formed part of the obituary of Mary Malone, the last
surviving member of Carlow / Laois Cumann na mBan, who died in 1997.
- [Note by M Brennan:
- Cumann na mBan (English: Irishwomen's Council) is an
Irish republican women's paramilitary organisation formed in Dublin
on 2 April 1914 as an auxiliary of the Irish Volunteers.
Although it was otherwise an independent organisation, its executive
was subordinate to that of the Volunteers:]
- Short history of Cumann na mBan.
- (Women's Army / Gathering of Women)
- by Michael Purcell , 1982.
I commenced this article with the intention of tracing the history of
the Cumann na mBan "Republican Flag" that my mother and her comrades
made when they were interred in Kilmainham Jail in 1923. During my
research I interviewed several Cumann na mBan survivors living in Carlow
. I also spoke to Marie Comerford, Sighle Humphreys, Nora Connolly O'
Brien, and May Gibney, all veterans of the 1916 Easter Rising. Before I
knew it the history of the flag was developing into a history of the
Cumann na mBan organisation itself.
I am aware that this is not a complete account but I hope this effort
will encourage others to research the organisation before all the
survivors have passed away. In my youth the Cumann na mBan Republican
Flag embroidered with the motif of a rifle, interwoven with the initials
C. na mB., in its worn, torn and tattered state was removed from storage
whenever a local Republican died. Draping the coffin at the graveside,
it was usually accompanied by the playing of the Last Post and with a
volley of shots, fired over the grave by a Firing Party from the Curragh
Command of the Irish Army.
As I grew older the flag came to represent a last link to the fast
disappearing generation of republicans who had fought for Irish
independence. It was made in Kilmainham Jail by a group of women who in
compliance with a directive from the leadership of Cumann na mBan, had
opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921 and who were then during
the ensuing Civil War (1922 - 1923 ) imprisoned by their former
comrades. In British occupied Ireland Cumann na mBan members had been
active as auxiliaries to the Military Council of the Irish Republican
Brotherhood, the Irish Citizen Army, the Irish Volunteers, Sinn Fein and
later to the Irish Republican Army whose flying columns they assisted by
providing information, food, shelter, clothing and medical assistance.
All members were required to attend First Aid courses and Irish Language
Classes and were also encouraged to take part in Signalling, Marching,
Drilling and Target practice.
They rendered service as couriers (known as "basket girls" or "pram
women") delivering dispatches to IRA commanders throughout Ireland. They
helped to provide and smuggle guns, cartridges and equipment for the
volunteers. Later, at great danger to themselves and their families,
they concealed the same arms, ammunition and uniforms in their homes.
Members acted as organisers and recorders in the Republican Courts set
up by the First Dail in 1919. They assisted in distributing pamphlets,
posting handbills and organising public meetings. The members were also
active selling Dail Bonds and in other fund raising activities such as
organising dances, concerts and campaigning on behalf of political
leaders. They provided "safe-houses" for men on the run, served on
prison relief committees, provided practical assistance for the
prisoner's families, sourced employment for them upon their release,
collected petitions, protested and maintained a prayerful presence at
They consoled families who had lost loved ones in the struggle.
Dressed in their homemade "Volunteer green" tweed uniforms, crossed with
a Sam Browne belt and topped with a slouch hat, they formed Guard of
Honour columns at the funerals of their comrades. Also during this
period some members were encouraged to maintain or establish friendships
with British army personal or sympathisers of British rule as a means of
gathering intelligence for the IRA and the IRB.
When one considers that
association with any republican movement could result in the participant
being severely punished and deprivation and persecution for their
families, it illustrates just how brave they were by their actions .They
had to contend with the Royal Irish Constabulary, the British Army, the
notorious Black and Tans, informers and with, what at times was, a
generally disinterested if not hostile population.
Republican movement was not widely supported in the Carlow area . Cumann
na mBan was founded in April 1914 in order to involve women in the
furtherance of the cause of Irish liberty. Later that year they opposed
the introduction of conscription for young Irishmen to join the British
Army. Those who joined Cumann na mBan came from diverse backgrounds and
hailed from all over Ireland. Some had professional qualifications,
doctors, teachers, nurses, others were shopkeepers, publicans, some were
only schoolgirls. There were also a sprinkling of representatives from
the "Gentry" class , but the majority were working-class women. They
were of all religious persuasions and even the odd atheist signed up.
- All had one aim:
- "To establish and maintain a Republic by every means in their
power against all enemies, foreign and domestic".
With over seventy members taking part in the 1916 Rising the
organization played an important role during that Easter week. Despite
the fact that they were unarmed at least one member was killed and
several others were wounded by the British troops during the fighting.
It was a Cumann na mBan member, Nurse Elizabeth O'Farrell, wearing her
Red Cross sash that delivered Patrick Pearse's surrender note to General
Lowe. Later accompanied by a "bodyguard" of British soldiers she
delivered the surrender terms to de Valera and the other commanders at
their posts scattered throughout Dublin.
Cumann na mBan members were refused representation on the Irish Army
Executive Council when they were discussing the treaty negotiations in
1921. The following year they were the first national organisation to
oppose the Anglo-Irish treaty. The executive committee of Cumann na mBan
overwhelmingly passed a motion in February 1922 reaffirming their
allegiance to The Republic and to Eamonn de Valera (despite the fact
that he had disappointed the Cumann na mBan membership when he refused
to have women serve in his 3rd Battalion during the 1916 Rising , he was
the only 1916 commander not to avail of their assistance).
Following the February meeting there was a fateful parting of the
ways and one of the saddest chapters in the history of the fight for
Independence came about as former comrades fought, imprisoned, tortured
and killed each other during the Civil War or as the Republicans called
it - The Counter Revolution.
Later the women were treated badly by the Irish Free State
Government. The organisation was banned. Because they had served
side-by-side before the spilt , Cumann na mBan members were vulnerable
to detection and arrest , their names, addresses, families and roles
easily identified by their former comrades.
It was at the hands of the " Free Staters" that they suffered the
greatest deprivation and suffering when several hundred members were
arrested and detained without charge during, and for months following,
the Civil War. Nevertheless, this brave group of women carried out their
tasks with unrelenting determination and sacrifice for the republican
They firmly believed in the inalienable right of Irish people to
govern themselves in a country free and at peace.
The censure of republicans by the Roman Catholic Church did not
affect the Roman Catholic member's commitment to the church of their
Their Christian values remained with them to the end.
I am reminded of an entry in my mother's autograph book dating from
her own imprisonment in Kilmainham Jail:
- "Remember me is all I ask, And if
remembrance proves a task, forget" ...
- (signed) May Gibney, April 1923.
- We will not forget....
- (signed) Michael Purcell, November 1983.