“If I write I must tell the truth as I know it” - Gender, Conflict, and Nationalism in Women's Memoirs of the Easter Rising

Abstract

The Easter Rising was a pivotal moment in the fight for Irish independence and retains a potent place in Irish Republican mythology. Memory of the Rising has frequently centered the men, particularly those who were executed in its aftermath and so became Republican martyrs. This thesis explores Republican women’s memories of the Rising, through analysis of four memoirs of the period. I identify six key themes in the memoirs regarding nationalism, gender, and conflict and explore how the women constructed these issues in relation to the Rising. While memoir, constrained as it is by individual memory, has some limitations, in this thesis, I argue that reading Republican women’s memoirs and considering how they position issues of self, gender, and nation, can provide crucial challenges and disruptions to established narratives of revolution.