Fearless Woman: Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, Feminism and the Irish Revolution

This full-length biographical study - substantially rewritten and updated - of one of the most important women in Irish political life in the 20th century is now reissued by UCD Press. Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, part of a pioneering generation, played a significant role in the early Irish Republic.

Hanna Sheehy Skeffington was a leading figure in the suffrage movement, she was an activist in the anti-war movement of 1914-18 and was an executive member of Sinn Fein. She opposed the Free State and provided consistent support for women’s resistance to anti-women measures enacted by both Cumann na nGaedheal and Fianna Fail. Her later career saw her as an electoral candidate to the Dail in 1943 and she proved herself fearless in her fight for justice, confronting both the British Prime Minister and the President of the United States of America.

Incorporating new archival research and featuring an array of newly discovered images, Ward brings to light previously unpublished material about Hanna’s personal life: her relationship with her husband and her role as a single parent. This timely revised edition serves to highlight the fascinating life of a pivotal figure in feminist, labour and nationalist movements in Ireland.