Women and Irish-Ireland: The Domestic Nationalism of Mary Butler

Abstract

The shift of the national struggle after the fall of Parnell from the arena of con stitutional reform to that of cultural revival opened up new opportunities for women to participate in Irish public life. By dhmirnshing the importance of achieving mere political independence and making cultural de-AngUcization the primary focus of their efforts, the Irish-Ireland movement tacitly acknowl edged that Irish women, even if limited to their traditional roles as homemak ers and teachers, had a crucial contribution to make in building the Irish nation. All of the priorities of the Irish-Ireland ideology?including the revival of the Irish language, the education of Irish children in the national history and liter ature, and the use of Irish-made products to strengthen the national economy? largely pertained to the domestic sphere, where women were recognized as pre dominant. In comparison with nationalist organizations pursuing political programs, whether constitutional or republican, those organizations promot ing a cultural agenda proved far more receptive to enlisting the support of women. At the end of the nineteenth century, women in Ireland were beginning to take a larger part in public life. Reforms enacted during the 1890s, in particular, allowed them to participate in local government. After 1896, women could serve as poor law guardians and, after 1898, they could vote in local elections. They were, however, still denied the franchise in parliamentary elections and, as long as this remained the case, the opportunities for women to enter national poli tics remained limited.1 During this period, all nationalist political organizations and most literary societies continued to enroll only men. By contrast, the Gael ic League, founded in 1893 to promote the revival of the Irish language, accept ed women for membership on an equal basis. In the league, moreover, women were not restricted to subordinate roles, but played an active part in leadership.