Margaret Skinnider

Contributor(s):

Author Biography

Dr Mary McAuliffe is an Assistant Professor in Gender Studies at UCD and holds a PhD from the School of History and Humanities, Trinity College Dublin. Her latest publications are, as co-author, We were there: 77 Women of the Easter Rising and Kerry 1916; Histories and Legacies of the Easter Rising on which she was a co-editor. She is writing on Kilkenny and the Revolution for the Four Courts Press 'The Irish Revolution, 1912-23' County series and is also co-editor of Saothar: The Journal of the Irish Labour History Society.

Description

Margaret Skinnider enters and exits the history books as the female rebel who was wounded commanding a military action in the 1916 Rising. In a re-evaluation of Skinnider's long and politically active life, this biography considers the life of a woman who deserves her place in Irish social, political and trade union histories.Coming of age among the Irish diaspora in a Glasgow where militancy in socialism, feminism and Irish nationalism were inspirational ideologies, Skinnider was a suffragette, trade union activist, socialist, and militant Irish nationalist. Arriving in Dublin in 1916 and brimming with commitment to the causes that had suffused her childhood and adolescence, Skinnider would go on to give much service to her adopted country, Ireland. During the next five decades of her life, she remained an active feminist, trade union activist and Irish republican. The study also looks at Skinnider's, until now, more hidden history, her committed relationship with her lifelong partner, fellow Cumann na mBan member and feminist activist, Nora O'Keeffe.Among the newest additions to the Life and Times New Series, this monograph considers the importance of researching and writing political women's biography, of fully considering the roots of their ideologies, and of understanding their lifelong commitments to activism.

Reviews

'While McAuliffe’s stated aim is to provide a fuller account of Skinnider’s activist life – and in many ways she succeeds in that – it is her involvement in the events of 1916 and its aftermath that remain a compelling focus for the reader'

Wonderful review of Margaret Skinnider by Mary McAuliffe in the latest version of Scottish Labour History.

Full review here.

'Mary McAuliffe’s biography of Margaret Skinnider contains substantiated, detailed and authoritative prose, and is complemented by a detailed bibliography, clear footnotes and the addition of an excellent series of photos.'

Irish Historical Studies, May 2021

'This excellently researched work is a must read, and it is written in a manner that is accessible to academics and the wider public.'

Women's History Association of Ireland, May 2021

'Mary McAuliffe’s meticulously researched biography seeks to shed light on a complex woman living an extraordinary life ... Woven through her fascinating and accessible narrative of Skinnider is a call to recognise the fundamental importance of women’s stories within history and a striving effort to speak back into a cultural and historical silence.'

Becky Long, Irish Times, May 2020

Media

Meet the Author - Mary McAuliffe Part 1 Meet the Author - Mary McAuliffe Part Listen back to Dr Mary McAuliffe in conversation with Myles Dungan on RTE History Show last night discussing the fascinating life of trade unionist republican feminist Margaret Skinnider Dr Mary McAuliffe talks about her new biography of Margaret Skinnider, a militant feminist and trade unionist who was badly injured in the 1916 Rising.

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