Reflections on the 1913/14 Dublin Lockout

Still
Locked
Out
Reflections
on the
1913/14
Dublin
Lockout
Still Locked Out
Published by SAOL Project Ltd.,
Copyright © 2014 by SAOL Project Ltd.
This publication is free and is available as a free PDF, which can be found at
http://www.saolproject.ie/1913.php. For other details please contact admin@saolproject.ie
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not
necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SAOL Project or any of our funding agencies.
2
Contents
Contents
3
Foreword
4
Acknowledgements
7
Revisiting 1913 and our own recent her-story
9
Timeline for the Lockout — a rough guide
10
Shirley Brennan on Molly O’Reilly
12
Orla Dempsey on Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington
14
Mairead Dowling on Delia Larkin
16
Personal Reflection by Mary Kelleghan
17
Tracey Ryan on Annie Ryan
18
Jennifer Ross on Mollie Doyle
19
Sue Smithers on Kathleen Florence Lynn
20
Photographs (1) by Ray Hegarty
22
Anna Prince on Rosie Hackett
24
Sharon Ryan on Mary Galway
26
Joeline Caffrey on Lily Kempson
27
Photographs (2) by Ray Hegarty
28
Jennifer Mooney on Countess Plunkett
30
Martine Dawnay on Madeline Ffrench-Mullin
32
Laura Stevenson on Grace Neal
34
Alice Brady’s Mother’s Lament by Paula Kearney
36
Jeannie Burke on Cissie Cahalan
37
Belinda Nugent on Louie Bennett
38
Noreen Flood on Lady Aberdeen
39
Stage Struck
40
Personal Stories
42
Photographs (3) by Ray Hegarty
46
References
48
3
help; organisations are closed; funding decisions are made without much reference
to the quality of the work being done.
And still we wait.
Foreword
The recent events in Kiev have got me
thinking. I can’t claim to understand the
dynamics going on for the people of Georgia or the pressures that are being borne by
them, caught as they are between the EU
and Russia. Current threats of invasion
from Russia are even more disturbing. But
what really has me thinking is that ordinary people took over Independence
Square in Kiev; ordinary people fought the
police and the soldiers and held strong
while the politicians talked. Ordinary
men and women left their homes and
stood tall. Some did not come home. And
even with this Goliath threat hanging over
them, they are still fighting on.
Are we related to the people of 1913 at all?
Or have we changed so much that their actions now seem alien to us? We have applauded their stand; we acknowledge the
changes they made at a huge cost to themselves. But we seem to be otherwise unmoved.
We do march — but our marches are ignored and that seems to be ok. We expect
to be ignored and the print media expect
to ignore us.
Were the people of 1913 ignored? No!
They suffered; they struggled to stand firm;
but they brought about change even in
We had a fight to face into in Ireland a few their ‘defeat’. So why were they so strong
years ago. When the banking sector coltogether and the Ireland of 100 years later
lapsed and needed to be bailed out, our
feels so disjointed?
political leaders made decisions that have
Is it that they were just stronger than us
left us in debt for many years to come.
back then? Is it that they didn’t have so
Whether you agree with that decision or
many opposing voices screaming at them
not, I wonder at why we as a people did
through the media that their issues were
not rise up at the time.
clearer?
There was no storming Kildare Street;
Is it that they had a central, shared comthere was no taking over O’Connell Street;
plaint and that it was that that brought
there was little debate. We were informed
them together? Is it that they had nothing
that decisions were made for our own
to lose and were happy to risk it all?
good and we, me included, rolled over and
Or is it that we know the price of everywaited for things to get better.
thing and the value of nothing? That we
They haven’t got better; cuts keep coming
have been sold a dream and are not willing
to the communities that require most
to explore the reality?
4
I have my mortgage to pay; I have my kids
to put through school; I have a career I
want to advance. I have things to lose and
am not willing to risk any of them.
tion. The women of SAOL speak their
truths in this publication and we do not
act. We need leadership; and we need it
quickly. The clock is turning back and the
tenements are returning; the children are
going hungry; and the state is claiming
that we are the rioters. We need leadership. We need a new Jim Larkin who can
inspire but also speak in today’s language;
someone who can recognise in the pieces
written here, that the change being implemented in our names is not in all our best
interests. We need someone who can
guide us to a tomorrow that has hope for
every child of this nation, not just those
that own the means of transport.
Such rubbish! The dreams of 100 years
ago were no less important than mine; the
debts of 100 years ago were no less paralysing than mine; the need for books and
schools 100 years ago was no less a necessity than today; the children who went hungry because their daddies were on strike
were loved no less than mine. They had as
much to lose as I have; it’s just that I prefer
to think that my risk is greater, so that I
can ease my mind that I do not have to act.
And then I read the reflections in this
book. And I see that the faces of the past
are the same as the faces of the present.
The tenements of the past are filled today
by the women of SAOL; the children that
get the raw deal are the children from
SAOL Beag; The daddies and the mammies aren’t on strike because they do not
have the opportunity to work; instead they
sit in queues, filling out forms that are not
for Unions that might mobilise and move
them, but are to prove that they deserve
their payments and can prove that they
have been rejected by employers who have
no jobs for them. There may be jobs being
created in Ireland, but they are not for the
women of SAOL.
We do not need to take over our
‘Independence Square’ to do this. Or maybe we do. But either way, doing little or
nothing offers no honour to those who
suffered 100 years ago; and shows no respect to those who are suffering today. As
we watch and learn from Georgia (at both
the need and cost of social change), we
might recall 1913 and allow a new voice to
emerge.
Gary Broderick
For all this, I do not lead. For all this, the
Unions do not lead. We are guilty of inac5
Anna, Susan, Siobhan, Mairead and Edel at the Bloody Sunday re-enactment on
O’Connell Street on Saturday 31st August, 2013
6
Acknowledgements
SAOL Aftercare Groups would like to thank everyone who contributed to this publication, particularly
Cathleen O’Neill, without whom none of this would be possible - your typing
and computer skills are legendary.
Ray Hegarty, for all the amazing photographs that linked the present with the
past.
Therese Moriarity and Patrick Yeates for inspirational talks and helpful literature.
Catriona Crowe and the Staff at the National Archives for fantastic and energetic assistance.
The participants of the SAOL Project - Aftercare groups and CE — who embraced their past with vigour, honesty and pride.
To the staff of SAOL— particularly Belinda, Teresa and Brenda for on-going creative energy.
To Gary, Ger, Barry, Helen, Joanne, Rachel, Sue, Aisling and Michelle, as well as
all the students who helped us run the groups and edit/type this material.
To the Board of Management for believing in all our projects.
To the funding agencies who support the holistic rehabilitation we strive to provide; special thanks to Mel and Miriam in the NICDATF.
This publication has been possible because of on-going funding support from:
7
The beautiful, energetic and enthusiastic women photographed are, from the top of
the stairs to the bottom:
Cathleen, Laura, Susan, Brenda, Edel, Sue, Lacey, Nina, Belinda, Anna, Siobhan, Helen, Karen, Jennifer, Joeline, Mairead, Shirley and Tracey.
8
Revisiting 1913 and our own recent her-story…
The Drugs Free group, who meet in SAOL have much in common with their sisters
each Thursday morning as part of their
in 1913.
continuing education, took a trip to the
Cavan Centre last August.
Social issues such as poverty, poor housing, access to health services, poor access
The group had set aside time to research a to education and social class discriminawoman of their choice who had played an tion are as prevalent today as in 1913. It
important role in the Dublin Lockout.
was a privilege to hear the conversations
Armed with their chosen woman, the
and watch the transformation of the
group then set off to be photographed in group from modern women to 1913 charperiod clothing. The photo-shoot took
acters.
place against the back-drop of the Cavan
Centre - on the wonderful spiral staircase;
beside the grand front door; and march- Looking at the women as they lined up on
ing alongside the centuries old house. The the spiral staircase one couldn’t help but
be struck by their beauty, energy and enSAOL women in period costumes and
hairstyles of the time did credit to the fol- thusiasm for the task ahead. The outdoors
shots, as you will see in this publication,
lowing women: Countess Markievzc,
Maud Gonne Mc Bride, Delia Larkin, Do- were wonderful as well. The photographer
instructed the group to march in character
ra Montefiore, Kathleen Lynn, Helena
Moloney, Rosie Hackett, Lady Aberdeen amidst much slagging.
and Alice Brady. Waving shawls and long
skirts they exploded onto the courtyard
One can’t help thinking that a group with
where they happily posed for their photo- our energy would have been a great benegraphs.
fit to Larkin and the goings on in Liberty
Hall.
The photo-shoot was for this publication,
which is aimed at honouring the role that
women played during the 1913 Lockout,
while also comparing the lifestyles of women in the past to present day experience.
Cathleen O’Neill
The history discussions were fast and furious as the group got ready to be photographed, tossing comments about 1913
back and forth. One of the most poignant
comments relates to the title of the publication called Still Locked Out, whereby
the group felt that present day women
9
Timeline for
July 1913
August 1913
August 1913
August 1913 September 1913
Workers are 100 workers are Clashes occurred Larkin speaks James Nolan, the
dissuaded
informed by letwith the police to the crowd
Lock-out’s first
from joining ter that because and Jim Larkin in O’Connell
casualty,
the ITGWU of their member- and others were Street despite
is buried.
by William
ship of the uncharged with li- the ban and
Threats of dismisMartin Mur- ion, their services bel. Larkin was
is arrested.
sal for workers rephy
are no longer rethen banned
The police
maining in the
quired.
from speaking attacked the
Union are made
publically
on
crowd,
resultA total strike folby Murphy.
O’Connell
Street
ing
in
many
lows with all
Food is sent to
on Sunday 31st
being intrams stopping
Ireland by the
August. Police
jured.
on 26th August
British Trade
charged rioters
and one person
Unions.
was fatally injured.
10
the Lockout
A Rough Guide
September
1913
A tenement
collapses in
Church
Street, killing 7 people including a locked
-out worker,
Eugene
Salmon.
October 1913
January 1914
Larkin sent to
prison for 7
months;
Without the support
of the British Unions, the strike was
Capt. Jack White now doomed to fail.
forms the citizen’s January 18th saw the
ITGWU secretly
army.
meeting and deciding to advise workers
November 1913 to return to work but
Larkin is released without signing the
employers’ docudue to public
ment. As many were
pressure.
starving, strikers had
little choice but to
The British Unreturn to work.
ions refuse to join
the strike.
11
“We are beaten.
We make no
bones about it,
but we are not
too badly beaten still to
fight.”
Jim Larkin,
30th January
1914
Shirley Brennan on Molly O’Reilly
Molly O’Reilly was born around 1900.
Molly became involved in the national
movement early in life joining Clann Na
nGael, when she was around 11 years of
age, while growing-up in Dublin’s Gardiner Street.
Gary came in to the room. Well, I’ll never
ever forget, we all went to sit down and to
our surprise didn’t Gary only go through
the chair, it was so funny, I laughed that
much I never thought I’d get the place because I could not stop laughing; he’s a
At a very young age she volunteered in the character.
I’ve done so many different brilliant mod1913 Lockout. Molly’s contribution between the Lockout period of August 1913
ules here at SAOL and I have my self-
and February 1914 was to help feed the
esteem back. I now can speak for myself. I
starving workers through the organisation just can’t believe how far I have come and
and running of a soup kitchen. This kitch- changed since I started SAOL 4yrs ago.
en was established in Liberty hall. Molly’s I’m very stable in my recovery and I’m so
proud of the difference in me now and I
activity in social justice continued and
around the age of 15 she joined the Irish
also started seeing things more clearly.
Citizen Army.
Thanks to Belinda and the Aftercare pro-
Her work within the army extended to hid- gramme for helping with these women
studies classes and with researching woming rifles in her own home. In 1921 the
Treaty of Independence was signed, a
en from a hundred years ago. The realisa-
move that was opposed by Molly and re-
tion when looking at women from a hun-
sulted in her taking the Republican side in dred years and today is that I have a lot to
thankful for. I am a completely different
the proceeding civil war.
woman today compared to the lost girl
I will never forget the day I had to come in
and meet Ger and Gary for my interview with no hope that walked in to SAOL 4
for a place in the SAOL project. As I came years ago and it’s all for the best.
in that day I met the lovely Ger and then
12
I am a mother of two teenage boys aged six- is going to get so chaotic that crime will go
teen and eighteen and I have a fifteen year up.
old step-son. I find it very difficult to sur-
We are living in poverty and it is only go-
vive day to day as my sons are big and they ing to get worse the longer it goes on.
have very large appetites. It is very hard to
There have been days when I could not
get shopping for the week and pay my bills. even afford a jug of milk so I find myself
I am always broke and it is so hard to get
begging off neighbours, which I really hate
by on what little money I get each week.
having to do, but what other option do I
It’s ridiculous.
have when I have no dinner to feed myself
I sometimes ask my mum if we can come
and my family? It is very hard to survive
to her house for Sunday dinner because I
and manage my shopping for the week.
do not have enough money to feed us all.
When I get paid each Thursday, I pay my
It is hard because every year in the budget
bills at the post office and when I leave I
all our bills go up and our payments go
hardly have anything left for the food shop-
down. I find it so hard and stupid and it
ping.
makes no sense at all. I reckon this country
13
Orla Dempsey on Hanna SheehySkeffington
Hanna Sheehy–Skeffington was born in
1877 in Kenturk, Co.Cork. She was one of
seven children. Hanna married Francis
Skeffington who was a feminist in 1903;
his commitment to equality meant that he
took her surname and they used Sheehy
Skeffington from then on.
In 1908, Hanna was one of the founding
members of the Irish Women’s Franchise
League (INFL). She founded the INFL’s
journal The Irish Citizen. Sheehy was also
involved in the Irish Women’s Workers
Union (1911).
In 1913, she was arrested for throwing
stones at Dublin Castle and was sentenced
to three months in Mountjoy Gaol. She
commenced her sentence on June 19th and
began a hunger strike on August 14th;
Sheehy was force-fed, released and subsequently imprisoned under the Cat and
Mouse Act.
The Cat and Mouse Act was introduced so
that when a prisoner went on hunger
strike and became ill they could be released and once they became well again
the authorities would re-arrest the person
so they could serve out their prison sentence, the same sentence could be carried
on for many years.
Hanna was jailed again for a fracas with a
policeman in November 1913. She went
on hunger strike and was released after six
days. Following her release, she was dismissed from her job as a teacher.
Skeffington was greatly influenced by
James Connolly and during this time she
worked with other suffragists at Liberty
Hall assisting in providing food for families that were involved in the strike.
14
Hanna Sheehy Skeffington continued
working for women’s rights up until her
death; her family still continues the work
today (McCoole, 2003 No Ordinary
Women)
and rents dropped throughout the country (even though it took a good few years
for my landlord to realise it and lower the
rent!).
Due to the recession that followed I was
made redundant from my job. The presOrla Dempsey 2013
I am a single woman in my thirties living sures that followed became too much for
me and my partner and we eventually
in private rented accommodation in Dubsplit. At one stage in my life I really belin’s north inner-city where I’ve lived for
lieved that I would be able to get on the
nearly eight years. Over those years there
property ladder but now that I am in a
have been many changes, some good and
constant cycle of poverty it seems impossiothers bad. When I originally moved in I
ble. I am on the housing list and have the
was working full time and had a partner
right amount of points, yet I don’t seem
to help me with the bills. The rent was
to meet the correct criteria. I am not seen
scandalously high for the size of the flat
as a priority because I am neither a single
we had, yet that was the going rate for
parent, homeless, or have a partner.
places like mine at that time. It was the
Where I live has become dilapidated over
start of the end of the Celtic Tiger. Sud- the years and has become a hub for crime,
denly the bubble burst and house prices drug dealing and homelessness.
15
Mairead Dowling on Delia Larkin
Delia was James
Larkin’s sister. She supported the Dublin lockout in 1913, working
mainly to support the
women and their families who experienced
huge deprivation due to
the fact that their husbands were on strike.
very tight budget and when the bills come
in, I have less to spend on food. I have to
watch what I’m spending all the time. I
seem to spend my life managing poverty.
Life on social welfare is very hard while at
the same time the cost of living is rising. I
watch the supermarkets putting up their
prices all the time. The city is also very depressing, with lots of boarded up flats,
while at the same time we have a growing
homeless problem. Why can’t they house
She did this because she believed that
women and children’s welfare were at the people in these flats? Managing food is
centre of the strike and she wanted Dub- okay some weeks, other weeks I have hardly any food left in the cupboards or fridge.
lin to be a fairer, better place for them.
Delia worked tirelessly in the food larder I came to the door of the SAOL project in
in liberty hall organising food parcels. She 2010. I was in a group of about fifteen
also worked hard holding fundraising ac- women. On each day of the week we did
tivities for the Irish Women‘s Worker’s
different subjects like computers, personal
Union (IWWU). Delia Larkin was the
development, and art and ‘Reduce the
first president of the IWWU. She ran the Use’. I had routine to my day again. I
soup kitchen in Liberty Hall and started started to gain more confidence in myself.
the Save the Women’s campaign. Delia
I am able to speak in a group now, where
argued that the solution to poverty was a before, I would have been hiding at the
fair wage paid to the male bread winner. back. We also did drama, something I
Delia also started ‘Save the Kiddies Cam- could only dream of before. If I had a
paign’ which helped the children go to
problem SAOL was there for me. Now I’m
England to be looked after by families
a more confident, assertive person. SAOL
there.
has been very important in my life.
My name is Mairead and I am doing a
course in further education with the
SAOL project, I love the course. My
daughter Cherise has been given a good
education and I am trying to complete my
own education as a mature student. I feel
like it’s never too late to get involved in
education and there are a lot more options these days for further education. As
I am in receipt of social welfare I have a
lot of trouble paying my bills. I live on a
16
Mary Kelleghan
is a lot better today In fact back in the 1913
it was thought to be appropriate for a teachIt is now 2013 and I am living on a social
er to discipline his pupil in a violent manner. Today this would be a criminal offence.
welfare payment of €156 euro a week and
living in Dublin city. It’s not easy living on a Overall the teaching itself has improved so
much from the 1913 to the present day.
full week’s wages, never mind what the soThey are learning more today than ever becial welfare pay. It is very difficult to get a
job today as there are not enough jobs to go fore, as technology is improving and getting
more advanced, so are the schools.
around. People are being let go from their
jobs, including those who have worked for
As the years go by social welfare entitlements
years in that same job, and they have to seek just keeps getting lower and lower, reducing
social welfare payment for themselves and
by ten euro every year. I can’t see there being
their families. There is not enough money in a rise in social welfare in the next year or
the country and businesses are closing down two. I dread Christmas without the bonus.
daily throughout the country. Comparing
Life is becoming the same as it was in 1913 if
2013 to 1913, you would think things would not worse. The cuts to social welfare and
have changed for the better. Instead we are rent allowance are causing people to become
still having money problems at home and in late with their rent payments and bills. A direct result of this is more people are becomthe work place as food prices are too high.
These are continuing to get higher and our ing homeless today in Ireland than ever before. It is becoming more and more difficult
weekly income getting lower. It’s getting
to house them. The difference between toharder to get the essentials we need to survive on a daily basis. It is becoming nearly as day and 1913 is that people would have spoken out and fought for their rights. Howevit was in the 1913. The same principle applies to me and I am finding it harder to sur- er, today we just sit back and let it happen.
Then we complain when it’s too late to do
vive on social welfare and finding a job is
anything, when our rights have already been
almost impossible. Managing food now in
2013 is nearly as difficult as it was in 1913, taken away.
because prices are so high in all the shops.
We the people
When shopping for groceries in the local
have let this hapshops you can only manage to purchase half pen by voting for
of the amount of groceries you might need governments who
to feed a family of 3 or more for one week
do not have our
best interest at
because our weekly income is not meeting
our needs just like in the 1913. Also trying heart.
to pay the bills on time is almost impossible.
Compared to the 1913 the education system
17
Tracey Ryan on Annie ryan
Annie Ryan was a worker in a cigarette
Dreaming in the Zeitgeist
factory. Although the only thing recorded was a quote, it is powerful and
I catch them in half light, or winter dawns,
speaks volumes in looking at the simia summer’s evening, shadows cool and blue
larities and difference over a hundred
when dipping sea gulls skim the brimming river;
years. Read this quote and then take a
I catch them from the corner of my eye moment to think what has changed in
the ghosts of women workers long since gone.
the last hundred years.
I get down on my knees and bless their dust,
‘Nothing was granted: not your vote,
I salute them in my every waking breath not your education, not your daily wage mothers and grandmothers who made a stand
– all was hard fought for’.
against slavery, against the whip hand.
If I read this quote today what could we
say has changed? Maybe we have a vote
Hard times again, a different song of fear,
in Ireland, but only if you are registered
a different whip, the same indifferent face.
with the council. If you’re not regisWe track them through the archives silting dust:
tered, you have no vote. Education in
Ireland is allegedly free, yet if I try to go in photographs, in newsprint yellowing in drawers
to university it’s not guaranteed that I
undaunted grandmothers, mothers of the poor,
will get a grant or support from the
the ones who raised their voices to be heard,
state. With the recession we can see
spat on, slagged off and slandered by the mob
jobs being lost every day, just like the
they louder spoke for every silenced voice,
1913. Today we can agree that daily
for the lost and broken sisters in their sad haunts.
wages are not guaranteed; every day in
education and work is a bonus.
Sometimes on the city’s granite quays
I would also like to share this poem
we sense them in the river’s lonely prayers.
similar to what many women factory
They reach between the future and the past
workers sang in the 1913:
their work-worn hands across from there to here.
They watch their daughters dancing out their fate
under the waxing or under the waning moon:
stars in their courses, wise bringers of dream.
They will not let us rest – they need us now
as much as we need them, to show the way.
Paula Meehan
18
Jennifer Ross on Mollie Doyle
At the time of the 1913 lockout Mollie
Doyle was 15 years of age. Mollie lived at
11 Emily Place, North Dock, Dublin with
her father who was originally from county
Wexford, John Doyle and her mother
Margaret who was from inner city Dublin.
According to the 1911 Census, she had
two older brothers, Thomas and Anthony.
The family were Roman Catholic. During
the 1913 lockout any individuals or families who were up to date with their subs
could go to Liberty Hall each morning
and receive bread and a hot meal. This little bit of nourishment was usually all these people had to eat for the day. Poverty
was extremely common and living conditions were very poor in tenement housing.
Mollie was employed at Liberty Hall as a
maid so she would have seen the first
hand struggle for families whose breadwinner was out of work. She would have given
out means to starving families and supported James Larkin’s idea. After James
Larkin was arrested after a short speech
on the balcony of the Imperial Hotel, Mollie Doyle went to court to support Larkin.
nant out of wedlock and would have been
discriminated against for the rest of their
lives. Her family were assured that Mollie
would be kept in separate accommodation
from that of the “fallen women” but there
is no other documentation regarding
where Mollie went after the Lockout of
1913.
I am living in homeless accommodation at
the moment so poverty is very common
for both me and my partner and those
around us. It is almost normalised and accepted because of where I live. The St Vincent De Paul calls to the hostel on a regular basis. With both my partner and I battling addiction it is difficult to make money stretch and keep paying the bills.
It can get very depressing knowing that
everyone around me is suffering and going
through poverty. It is like a cycle of borrowing and then having to pay back. I am
fortunate to have a very supportive mam.
She was arrested in the court for shouting
“Up Larkin” as he was in the dock. She
was sentenced to 2 months in the Magdalen laundries. There was an outcry due to
this as the Magdalen laundries in High
Park, Drumcondra, was used for “fallen
women”. These would have fallen preg19
Sue Smithers on Kathleen Florence Lynn
The woman I have chosen to research is
Kathleen Florence Lynn, the information
on Kathleen was taken from ‘The Seven
Women of the Labour Movement’. According
to this, Kathleen Florence Lynn was born
in Mullaghfarry, County Mayo on the 28th
of January, 1874.
degrees in medicine, surgery and obstetrics.
She was also described as one of the most
gifted student doctors around at the time.
It was Helena Moony who brought Dr
Kathleen Lynn in touch with the national
movement.
The majority of her childhood was spent
in Mayo and Longford, she eventually
moved to Dublin and attended the AlexanDuring the time of the 1913 Lockout,
dra College for girls .
Kathleen was active in the relief efforts for
workers and their families. When the Irish
The school itself advocated women’s rights Citizen Army was established for the prowhile introducing women to suffrage.
tection of workers, she delivered classes in
Through this, Kathleen became an activist first aid for the members.
advocating Irish women’s suffrage and became a member of the local government
association in 1903. Kathleen became a
doctor with few women in the profession,
attending the Royal University attaining
20
Life today has changed in so many ways,
living in the inner city I see first-hand how
families are struggling to make ends meet.
For myself life has its up and down. I find
myself struggling to make sure my rent,
bills etc. are paid so after that there is not
much money left to live on. Managing
food is not too bad for me I as my cousin
lives next door. We put €40 each to food
so that we have a dinner each day, so I am
lucky to have him. And he does all the
cooking.
I left school at 14years of age. So as I got
older I found myself on a back to education course, which I did very well on.
SAOL opened its doors in 1995 for women who wanted to go back to education
over a period of two years. There was a big
waiting list, I started in September 1997. A
few years later I went to Dublin Aids Alliance and engaged in a course called
‘Stamp out the Stigma’ around HIV and
AIDS. As a good few friends had been diagnosed and I wanted to learn everything
about it. Kathleen, if she was around today, would probably have been teaching
the group.
I did go back to do my junior cert which I
passed. I have completed a peer support,
self-awareness, child development, first aid
and a computer course. I suppose these
were the boom years, before all the cut
backs came along.
Life on the social welfare is bad. Some
weeks I find I have to go without as they
cut our benefits on living alone allowance,
phone and rent allowance, so I find it
21
hard to make ends meet. If I need something I must go without something else, I
have to sacrifice each week. Since coming
to Saol what has change, is my recovery
and in a very positives way.
My life has changed in many positives ways
with the support of Saol. For years I was
addicted to pills like sleeping tablets and I
came to Aftercare wanting to stop. Saol
put a plan in place and now after 20 years
I am tablet free. Also the plan entailed
that when I need to talk to someone I can
come to Saol for a one to one with a staff
member which I find very helpful.
22
Some pictures of the women of
SAOL connecting with their 1913 past:
From left to right — Orla Dempsey, Sabrina Noone, Leah Kane and Edel
Vesey, Mary Kellehan, Leah on her
own, Simone Flynn, Sandra Hanlon,
Sabrina Noone, Rachel Martin, Edel
on her own and Orla and Sabrina together.
All photos taken by Ray Hegarty.
23
Anna Prince on Rosie Hackett
I am part of a women’s group and studying
the role of women in the 1913 Lockout.
Researching Rosie Hackett as part as my
Women Studies Course, I found there was
a lot of similarities. Rosie Hackett was a
woman who was a part of a team who
stood up to the injustice of women who
were working in inhumane conditions.
Rosie Hackett stood up for what she believed in and that the living and working
conditions that they were working in were
unhealthy. I can relate to this women’s story, as in the1980’s I lived over a sewing factory which was a tenement house. It was a
condemned building yet we were both expected to work and live in it.
food on the table is to lose my values, become someone I never wanted to be. For
myself, it makes me feel different and I feel
worthless and less than others and it becomes hard to be part of a community. It
also isolates you away from people and you
think that you’re different. The pressures
of opening the presses wondering will
there be enough food. These social issues
which I experienced such as being under
pressure and in despair, left me vulnerable;
physically, mentally and emotionally. Not
certain of where my next meal was coming
from, led me to crime, drugs and left my
life chaotic and my children in care.
As a woman living in the inner city with
poverty, it is isolating, lonely, I have low
self-esteem, little self-worth and having to
manage the household with limited and
reducing or no finances coming into the
home is very hard. The only way to put
had better lifestyles than I had. I was different and got jeered at to the point where I
stayed away and isolated myself in my
home.
Trying to raise my kids was very hard, so
The women’s group is researching women hard that they ended up in care. That is
from 100 years ago. I am finding out that how it was for me, there was no bath to
the past and the present are very similar.
wash them only a sink to wash them for
No work, no homes for people to live in, school, no playground to play in and no
no support from the state. We are learning area to hang cloths only outside your kitchfrom past mistakes and injustices. Inequali- en window and that kept you in the dark.
ty between men and women in the work- Also having social workers in my life made
force still exists. Policies are made to keep my life so much harder. I felt like a failure
women in the home rearing the children
around them. They were no help to me
and men out working. This is unfair and and my children and they put more presunjust, especially if you’re a single female sure on me.
or a single mother. Although Rosie came For me living in poverty in the inner city
out to support the workers she was one of was very hard, in fact to be a part of anythe first women to come and support the thing that was taking place in the commumen on the picket lines.
nity was hard. I always felt that everyone
24
I grew up in the tenements, no warm
home only an open fire to get heat from.
Times changed when I moved into a flat
where there was hot water. My next home
had a bath which was luxurious and we
had central heating. I then became a
young mother with children. As the children grew up I was fortunate enough to
get a house. I still live in this three bedroom house and my children have grown
up and have their own homes. The house
is very different to when I was growing up.
I have toilet, a huge kitchen and central
heating. Although I have central heating I
struggle to have it working most of the
time. I’m back to watching how much
heating is being used, trying to manage
and budget money so I can stay warm.
Struggling with budgeting and managing
food and bills reminds me of the struggle I
had when I was growing up.
The feeling of hopelessness is hard to bear
and unsettling being a mother and a women. This feeling followed through when I
had my three children under the age of
five years of age. Also being a lone parent
was frightening as I had no support from
my family. I was an only child; it was hard
to manage and to survive. Reflecting on
my life now, I’ve no job and I feel useless
in front of my family.
Then I started a community employment
scheme and began to find myself and having extra money and this really helped me
to manage my home and gave me a feeling
of worth. The extra money from the C.E.
scheme helped to give my children some
luxuries such as colouring books, going to
the zoo and the pictures. But most importantly I was able to keep my home
warm and keep food in the press. It was
25
like I won the lotto having the extra cash
and live a normal life. I was able to clear
arrears and pay the bills while having the
extra money coming into the home. I felt a
sense of self-worth because I was able to
cope with budgeting and looking after myself and my family. Then the ‘big boom’
went and the recession began which resulted in my C.E. scheme being cut. This was
a devastating time as I was back to my past.
I was back to bills and arrears and not being able to manage.
I believe that nobody should have to go
through living and feeling this way, its inhumane, it’s dehumanizing and it’s not
fair. I feel I have no contact with the world
and those who are dear to me because of
no job and no money.
Sharon Ryan on Mary Galway
Mary Galway (1864-1928) was born in
Moira, Co. Down and lived in the Springfield Road area of Belfast. She was appointed General Secretary of the Irish
Textile Operatives Union (ITOU) in 1897
at the age of 33. I have found no evidence
of her being married or having children.
She spoke up about the atrocious working
conditions; addressed rally’s and collected
funds during the Belfast dockers and carters strike. She was elected Vice President
of the Irish Trade Union Congress in
1910 at the age of 46 years. In the same
year, she had a rift with James Connolly.
In 1915, at the age of 51 she set up a
Trade Board for outworkers, the most exploited of the textile workers and got the
first woman factory inspector appointed
in Ireland. She was fundamental in banning the system of the half timers; children divided their week between factory
and school, and in reducing the working
week from 55 hours to 48 hours. Mary
died at the age of 64.
feed their children.
Living in the inner city today with poverty
is strange and hard. I was very lucky as my
mother always provided the best of what
we a family of ten needed. My mother did
tell me a lot about the hard and rough
days she went through with us as my father died when I was only 12 years old.
Now today, poverty is making its way back
into a lot of inner city families. I myself do
have bad times and days but somehow I
always manage to pull what I need together. Most women today are actually a lot
luckier. Not all though, as I do witness
some mothers panic about getting food to
As for me, living
on social welfare
is not bad, I think
I am lucky as I
only have myself
to take care of.
There are times
when I do have to
borrow but I always get by.
We do have the Vincent De Paul, who are
very good with helping families with food
vouchers, clothing and family day passes
to the zoo; if that did not exist the families
would not be able to afford such treats.
Managing food for me is easy as I don’t
have children but I do find difficult to
manage in other ways. One thing that always stays in my mind is a tip my mam
told us “make sure you have a bag of potatoes,
tray of eggs and a tin of beans and you will always have the makings of a dinner”.
Today in the inner city education is much
easier to get then it was years ago, there
are now a lot of education programmes
available to women. I am a SAOL participant and have learned a lot since I came
back to education. I have achieved a lot of
FETAC awards and certificates. Some
women find it difficult to avail of these
opportunities as they have children and
not all projects have child care facilities.
Sharon with Ger in 1913!
26
Joeline Caffrey on Lily Kempson
Lily Kempson was 14 years old at the time
of the Lock-out. She grew up amongst the
poorest in Dublin. The situation was so
bad that when Margaret Skinner was taken
on a tour of the tenements by Countess
Markievizc she wrote.
union activities. She was also likely to have
played a leadership role in Liberty hall that
organized and fundraised for the 25,000
workers and their families.
We know that that she had great organizing skill and a lot of personal bravery be‘I do not believe there is a worse place in cause she was heavily involved in the 1916
the world’. The ‘street was a hollow full of rising, because like Lily Kempson most of
sewerage and refuse’ and she said of the
the more militant women sacked from Jabuilding she visited that it was ’as full of
cobs factory later joined the Irish Citizen
holes as if it had been under shellfire’.
Army.
Lily Kempson shared two tenement rooms
with her 92 year old grandmother, her parents and 8 siblings. Dublin’s poor lived
like war torn refugees in their own country. It held the distinction of having the
worst housing in Europe. In the early
1900s twenty thousand Dublin families
lived in one room accommodation. Five
thousand families rented two rooms of
which half was condemned as unfit for human habitation.
I have a lot in common with the women of
1913. I know what it’s like to live in a slum
or tenement house. I know, like them,
what hunger and poverty feels like. I feel
our own living conditions today are very
similar to those of 1913. There is no work,
massive emigration, no way of paying bills
or buying food and giving children a little
treat.
I live on social welfare. I fought for years to
get a house off Dublin City Council for
me and my three children. But now I cannot afford to live there with the price of
electricity and
gas and rent. I
have very little
money left for
food and clothes
like the women
of 1913 I also reThe Dublin Lockout of 1913, women from ly on charity to
Jacobs factory were described as ‘among
get by especially
the most militant’ having tested and tasted at this time of
victory in 1911. At the height of the strug- year.
gle Lily was jailed for two weeks for trade
In the early 1900s the job market for women was small and unattractive. The year
Lily began working at Jacobs Biscuit Factory the workers went on strike and won the
battle. The year was 1911 and Lily was 14
years of age. This strike at the biscuit factory was the first major industrial dispute involving workers in the city. It was hailed as
a lesson in collective action which many
would not forget.
27
Brenda Browne, Edel Murphy, Lacey Scott (one of our American students) and
Siobhan Dowling connect with their inner 1913 woman
28
Shirley Brennan, Sue Smithers, Edel Murphy, Tracey Ryan and Jennifer Mooney discuss the Unions! (Above) While the whole gang practice their marching outside the
main house in the Cavan Centre. (All pictures, Ray Hegarty).
29
Jennifer Mooney on Countess Plunkett
The woman I have chosen to research is
Countess Elizabeth Plunkett. She was born
in May 1866. She was married to Arthur
Plunkett and they had three children.
Elisabeth was a contemporary of Horace
Plunkett, the man who
founded the Irish Cooperative movement,
and she was also
friends with Charles
Stewart Parnell,
Eamonn De Valera and
Michael Collins. She
wrote about her memories of all of these people in her book “70 Years young”.
Elizabeth was first introduced to Irish theatrical circles by her friend Maire Ni
Chinneide and also to the Irish Language
movement. She was a founder member of
the Irish Co-operative Movement and she
was also President of the United Irishwomen in 1912. She was a suffragette and extremely interested in the rights of women.
Therefore she is an ideal role model for me
to choose as a research topic. The interest I
have just outlined as hers made her a perfect fit for getting involved in the Dublin
Lockout of 1913 where she played a key
role in supporting and helping women and
their families. Elizabeth was also a member
of the Distressed Ladies Committee. In
Liberty Hall she organized secondhand
clothing for women and children and she
was also helped to organize and distribute
food aid.
“The day of the landlord is over.
Even the greatest recluse among
them, locked up within strong
walls or behind high, thick woods,
must be aware of the battering on
the gates.”
Elizabeth Burke Plunkett
30
In Dublin in 2013, community development workers often refer to Horace Plummet’s Cooperative Movement as the beginning of community development in Ireland. It is heartening to note that Elizabeth
Plunkett was a founder member of this important cooperative and legacy.
The ongoing struggle to which the movement was based believed in the strength of
numbers. During the Dublin Lockout this
strength in number was also of key importance among the strikers. It was vital
that this message was heard loud and clear,
that in order for social change workers
must stick together.
One cannot deny that major changes have
taken place with regard to workers rights.
The fact that we have now have holiday
pay, sick leave etc and employment legislation, can be traced some of these benefits
back to the strong trade union movement
that emerged after the Lockout. These benefits are only a few of the changes that have
taken place.
On the other hand there is the argument
that few enough changes have taken place
for workers, such as worker’s rights for
women. There are still major inequalities
in regard to pay and promotions. Also the
responsibility for child care is still seen as
the responsibility of women. There are still
no strategies in place to abolish this problem. I believe that tthese women, in 2013,
are as much ‘locked out’ as the women
were in 1913.
cuts. Society and our Constitution view
the home as the woman’s domain. It is up
to her to manage the household, balance
the budgets and bear all of the cuts as her
problem.
Legislation has not made us equal; the
Constitution keeps us in the central place
called ‘home’, regardless of what ‘home’ is
like for women and children. I believe that
the Countess would still be a key suffragist
or feminist in today’s world, seeking to
change the aforementioned Article 41 of
the Irish Constitution. She certainly would
not agree with the way in which women
and children have been the target of cuts
and social welfare provision. She would be
dead set against the current war being
waged against the poor in Ireland.
I chose Countess Plunkett for her role in
the Dublin Lockout when she actively
helped women who were poor, when she
worked in the soup kitchens and when she
raised funds to help them out. I wish we
had more women like her today; women
who will fight to change the legislation and
the social structures that keep women ‘in
their place in the home’.
The budget cuts that have taken place currently fall harder on women who bear the
brunt of cuts disproportionally. Like 1913,
the women of today are being left to struggle with bills, to balance and manage the
31
Martine Dawney on Madeline FfrenchMullen
Madeline Ffrench-Mullen was born in Mal- For thirty years they shared a house and
ta, the daughter of Sgt. Laurence Ffrench-
worked together.
Mullen, a fleet surgeon of the Royal Navy. In 1916, both took part in the rising and
When her father retired, the family came were imprisoned. After her release, Madeto live in Dundrum, Co. Dublin.
line became involved with the Connolly
Within a short time of the move, Made-
Co-operative Society, which provided work
line’s parents both died, and, as the eldest for those activists who were unemployed
of three children, she became the head of
following their participation in the
the household. She went to Germany
fighting.
where her siblings were educated, but re-
During the War of Independence she was
turned to Ireland in 1914. The Great War briefly arrested on the charge of ‘keeping
had begun and Madeline took a number military patrol under surveillance’, and as
of Belgian refugees into her new family
a result spent a period in the Bridewell
home of Stradbrook.
prison in Dublin. This is the only record
At this time she became committed to the of her involvement in the War of Indelabour movement and became an early
pendence. However, her energies were fo-
member of the Irish Citizen Army. She
cused elsewhere during this time.
was also a member of Inghinidhe na hEireann.
In 1918, along with Dr. Kathleen Lynn,
she established a temporary hospital, fol-
Madeline wrote a children’s column using lowed in May 1919 by a permanent instituthe pen names of Dectora O’Callaghan.
tion, St Ultan’s Hospital on Charlemont
She met Dr Kathleen Lynn at a lecture on Street, Ranelagh, Dublin.
first aid and a lifelong friendship began.
32
My thoughts go round and round my
tell me anything now, it’s the future that I
head like a heavy balloon full of lead.
want to reach.
They stop when I’m asleep per se, but I
But the here and now is just as important.
still dream of what goes on in the day.
As the things you do in the here and now
Sometimes my dreams don’t make much
are the foundations for what is to come.
sense but then again it could be when I
So, now it’s time to put in place those
look deeper, what will I see? A person with dreams and aspirations that have been put
plans and dreams? But something always on hold for so long now, that I’d thought
gets in the way. But one thing is for sure,
they were out of reach. The only person
I’ll always get up and try again.
that’s left behind is me and my awakening
Giving up does not appeal to me; it’s the
mind. The part that was in slumber mode
one thing that keeps me going. Knowing
is now stirring like a big brown bear ready
that around the corner there will be some- to shake the winter off and face the spring
thing that will work for me. A time, a
with hope, not fear. My time is here. I
space, a sacred space that’s mine and will
have chosen Madeline fFfrench- Mullen as
be defined by me. So when I think about
my heroine because of the work she got
where I am, I know there’s no point in
involved in, one hundred years ago.
looking back at the past. Ain’t going to
33
Laura Stevenson on Grace Neal
Grace, along with Dora Montefiore, tried to
help large families struggling against poverty.
Even though they were stopped doing exactly
what they wanted, this was to place children
with English families for safe keeping during
the strike. Grace ended-up working in a soup
kitchen.
To me she sounds very similar to my family
support worker, I’ll call her Mrs M. I was assigned her when I split from the father of my
4 eldest children and was struggling to manage with 2 young babies. Although Mrs M.
didn’t want to take my kids and place them
elsewhere until I could cope better, she did
show me life skills that to this day I apply to
my everyday life. She showed me how to
make my first coddle, so I could have worked
with Grace Neal in the soup kitchen! She
showed me how to do a little cleaning every
day, so it didn’t pile up; and most importantly, she showed me how to show the kids I love
them as much as I do. I’m not a natural at expressing affection. She told me to call my
teenage son back one morning, give him his
lunch money and a hug, tell him to have a
good day and that I loved him. I could see it
took him by surprise but he reacted well and
gave me a hug back.
So for these reasons, I thank God Mrs M was
assigned to be my support worker, just as
many of the people around Dublin thanked
God for women like Grace and the support
they gave during hungry and stressful times.
Mrs. M. continues to link in with me and will
always be there for me (I hope!). She came
into a family that was struggling and helped
us all.
I find life in the inner city is ok; I like it. It
was my choice to move to Dublin from Scotland 15 years ago, when I was 16 with a 4
week old baby. I like my life now. I’m housed
in a lovely 4 bedroom townhouse with neighbours who are friendly and wouldn’t see you
stuck for anything. So yes, I like my life in the
inner city. Sometimes it’s hectic, sometimes
manic, but sometimes quiet. Every day is different.
It wasn’t always as comfy at home as it is now.
I used to live (only 6 months ago) in a 1 bedroom apartment with all 5 kids. I slept in the
sitting room with a baby on one side of my
bed and one on the other side. That was hell.
I pushed and pushed, then eventually went to
a TD to ask for help. Within weeks of him
making contact with the corporation offices I
had an offer of a house and received the keys
3 months later.
I couldn’t believe my luck. I’m sure the novelty will wear off eventually, but I now have a
house I can call my own. My own front door,
front and back gardens that we never had before; it’s a great feeling.
I have 5 children aged 15, 12, 3, 2 and 9
months and me and my partner have to manage our shopping budget almost to the penny.
We tend to go to a few different shops for the
deals and our weekly shop would cost around
€150. But we do manage (and he makes a
great dinner).
34
There have been weeks where we’ve had to
raid the last of the freezer and make a mismatched dinner with just bits and pieces that
are left but once the kids aren’t left hungry,
once I know there is some kind of dinner put
out for them, I don’t worry (too much).
Quite often though, I’ll find myself looking
at the shop we have done and thinking
there’s nothing there that I really like. But
then I have to remind myself that I’m lucky
to have any at all. I might not be able to
shop in Marks and Spencer and go to Iceland
and Lidl instead, but you can find nice
things in these shops too; you just have to
look for the nicer things and the deals.
for 5 kids and myself (that’s with €40 deducted for my corporation rent each week). I
spend €150 on food, leaving €110 for all other costs, a bit of the ESB and Board Gais and
UPC, leaving me with very little each week
but it is enough to get by on. The budget
cuts have definitely affected my children’s allowance especially. I used to feel rich on children’s allowance day, now I’m just thinking
how little I’ll be left with actually for the kids
when I’ve finished paying all the bills and
lends off people that I might have had to get
to tide me over some weeks. The weekly
money hasn’t gone down too much but I still
have to watch every penny and don’t have the
I’ve had no difficulties whatsoever educating freedom to go into town and buy the kids
my children. My eldest son has just finished new clothes or shoes as and when I want. Before I treat myself I’ll see what the kids need
doing his junior cert and he did honours.
and they have to come first. I won’t lie, there
My daughter has just started secondary
school; my 3 year old son Kai has moved on are days we struggle.
from Saol crèche to the Holy Child preschool; he will be leaving his younger brother
Jay in the Saol crèche and they’re younger
brother Liam will be starting there too. So I
find the education system good. Although
it’s advertised as free education, it is costly.
My eldest son is going into 5th year and there
is no book rental scheme. So, in total, for
attending and books it’s costing €120 so far.
I get a grant of €200 for him and €200 for
my daughter but that barely covers the uniforms; bags, shoes and new stationery are also needed, so as they get older it seems to
cost more and more.
Life on social welfare seems to be a way of life
here and if you are careful, you can manage
on what you get. I get around €300 a week
35
Alice Brady’s Mother’s Lament
Alice Brady was only 14 years old when a bullet from a scab’s rifle shot her—she died from the
infections from the resulting wound. Aside from her death and the fact that she was a factory
girl, no other details about her life are known. This poem is a reflection on what it must have
felt like for her mother.
How is that with all you fine speaching men, it is my baby who’s dead?
And your handshakes and sorrys are all that’s being said?
How is it that all your fine words and grand gestures put my girl in the ground?
It was your strike that struck my girl and lowered her down.
The scab who killed my daughter has never been named
Protected by the big men’s club from an infamous fame
But whether named or unnamed, it won’t dry the tears I ‘ve cried,
For t’was my baby, my darling Alice, who suffered and died.
And I care not about the details now for just sadness remains
In the loneliness of Foley Street without her bright refrains
They might remember her in 100 years time, stranger things have occurred
But then, when ere before have the voices of the poor been heard?
To the women of Foley Street and all the neighbours around
Remember Alice Brady, let her spirit abound!
Big men will march and talk and tell us how to be
But the sacrifices are always made by women like me.
Paula Kearney
36
Jeannie Burke on Cissie Cahalan
This lady was born
in Tipperary in
1876, giving the full
name Mary Josephine Cahalan but
known to others as
Cissie. According to the article “Frontline” in
the Irish Times, Cissie Cahalan was a trade
unionist, feminist and a schoolteacher’s
daughter who was born in Tipperary. She was
a member of the Irish Drapers’ Assistant Association (IDAA, now Mandate) from its earliest
years. In 1908 Cissie Cahalan was a members
of the of the Irishwomen’s Franchise League
(IWFL). In 1912 Cissie worked in Arnotts,
Dublin and formed a Women’s Committee
branch. She was also a trade unionist and involved in the soup kitchen during the 1913
Lockout. Cissie was an educated women she
studied journalism and activism. She was also
known for being out spoken against MPs and
members of the Irish Parliamentary Party. It is
recorded that she’d heckled ministers at an
open meeting regarding the workers’ rights in
October 1913.
Some people in Tallaght are very poor mainly
at the top end of Tallaght. You can see the difference when you drive into the top end. For
instance, there are burnt out cars everywhere
and horses roaming around. There is a lot of
rubbish thrown around.
Food is very expensive now a days, I have
three boys a husband and three dogs to feed.
Where I live in Tallaght, there is a big
Dunne’s Stores food and grocery department.
I spend an absolute fortune in it because it is
so near to my house. I will pop up to buy two
things and come home with a trolly full of
food, towels and clothes for the boys.
My three boys are in school and started back
37
last week. They say education is free but it cost
a small fortune to get their books, uniforms,
copies, bags, school tracksuits, and stationary.
Then you have to pay €80 per child to the
school for their insurance and arts and crafts.
The cuts on the social welfare have not affected me and my family.
My husband and I own a car sales garage. We
buy and sell new and used cars. My husband
Karl has a brilliant business head on him. He
is a hard worker and is also an electrician by
trade. He set up his own electrical company
years ago and it did really well at first but then
when the recession hit Ireland the company
went bang. There was absolutely no money to
be made. He then set up a building company
and that went bang too. He then started buying and selling a few cars and eventually made
enough money to open his own garage. He
had found something that he loved doing. He
has the gift of the gab so that helped too—he
is a bit like Cissie, using his voice to get places.
Since coming to SAOL my life has changed
for the better definitely. I feel that I have a reason to get out of bed in the morning. Don’t
get me wrong, I love my kids to bits but I was
stuck in a rut and every day was the same. My
whole life revolved around my husband and
kids and I did nothing for myself. By attending SAOL I have a purpose in life and it feels
great to get out of
bed and do this
for me. I am meeting lots of lovely
people and learning every day.
Belinda Nugent on Louie Bennett
Many authors have written
about a lady called Louie
Bennett, describing her caring and altruistic nature. I
have chosen Louie Bennett
as my woman to research as I
find many similarities in both our lives. In
1913, Louie worked alongside Markievicz,
Delia Larkin, and Hannah SheehySkeffington, but did so on humanitarian
grounds rather than any republican or revolutionary sentiment. These key women
were individuals who went beyond the call
of duty, and would be seen as the women
who kept the engine running through feeding the starving families and children. Louie was an individual who had a desire to
‘believe in the reunions rather than conflict, in
support rather than ignoring’. She was a courageous woman who spoke out publicly
against those who were fortunate to have a
leisured lifestyle and the corrupt politicans
and the brutality of scabs among the poor
starving families of Dublin. Louie spoke
out against the leisured classes and stated
that they should ‘appreciate and value the
movement’; she was annoyed at how the
trade unions movement didn’t get the support from the educated.
Living in the Inner City 2013/ 14 compared to one hundred years ago I believe
there is a better standard of living, better
health, education, housing and welfare system. Although I might not agree with the
health system we have in place; it is unfair
and unequal; it is costly for my husband
and me. The cost of our health care system
is a joke! It is expensive to visit your doctor
and medication is expensive too.
When I think of the differences in managing food now towards a hundred years ago,
I would say it is a lot easier as we have spaces to grow our own, such as community
gardens. Also, we a large range of shops
competing for custom making the prices
lower.
Regarding helping others, I would find myself volunteering and doing charitable
work within my community. I believe myself to be kind hearted, caring and motivated to help others in any way I can. I would
see a lot of individuals getting comfortable
in the leisure class and forgetting the unfortunates on the streets. For an example
when our community took to the street
over the Christmas period there was only
one counsellor helping us feed the homeless. This is an example of individuals getting comfortable and forgetting the cause,
which is to
help others!
38
Noreen Flood on Lady Aberdeen
Lady Aberdeen was aware of
the enormous developing difference in Ireland between urban
poverty and new rural prosperity.
slums and bred death and disease.
I feel the problems of today haven’t changed
towards women or the poor. The gap has gotten bigger and we are still fighting for things
others take for granted. We are here, we have
To help alleviate the suffering a voice and we should feel safe using it. I have
in Dublin slums she organized the distribulost my voice due to my own home life. I feel
tion of milk to the sick children of the slums that Lady Aberdeen wouldn’t believe that anof the city through the Women’s national
ything has really changed for the women and
health association which she set up. Through children in this day and age.
this organization she also opened sanatoriLady Aberdeen is like many ladies out there
ums and campaigned to bring awareness
trying to make a difference, like the ladies
around tuberculosis.
that are working in groups in the inner city;
Lady Aberdeen was a feminist and was married a man with her own keen views on equality for all and bringing better living conditions to those residing in the more impoverished areas of Dublin. She did this by bringing exhibitions to the people, including town
planning exhibitions to the local authorities
but it was Lady Aberdeen’s keen feminist
views, democratic disposition and tolerance
for people of all religions and ethnicity which
brought her into the disfavour of the social
establishment.
The rich sold their lavish houses located in
the city for a more rural lifestyle. The lavish
houses quickly became over crowded city
they are the back bone of this community.
There are so many women trying to bring
themselves and others out of poverty. Many
are doing this for the younger generation in
the hope that they will have a better chance
of getting out of this ever growing poverty.
It’s so hard trying to live on and endure life
as it is. Being poor is not a crime. Yet we are
made feel that we are criminals looking for
something for nothing. This is what is believed about us but all we
are looking for is equal opportunities.
'If we could have persuaded some of the Cabinet Ministers to come across to
see things for themselves, the result might have been different ... To turn from
rural to the urban districts of Ireland would have surely convinced [them] that
the housing conditions of the cities and towns of Ireland remained a blot and
a menace, culminating in Dublin ... '
39
Stage Struck
On Thursday 12th September , 2013, the Abbey Theatre and the Inner City Assembly
joined forces to explore how the local community could lead change in current times.
As part of the event, the SAOL Sisters performed a piece inspired by their work on the
role of women in the 1913 Lockout.
The script of their performance is printed opposite. The second half of the performance
had the Saol Sisters read from their reflections about living in poverty today. Some of
those and other reflections are reproduced
on the following pages.
These photos were not taken by Ray Hegarty, so apologies for their lack of clarity! Nonetheless, just
about visible on the Abbey Stage are, from left to right: Cathleen, Sharon, Sue, Teresa, Sabrina, Tracy,
Anna, Orla, Shirley, Jennifer, Sue, Rachel, Belinda and Noreen.
40
1913
Narrator
What did Larkin want in 1913?
All
His big dream was common, one union for all working men! Workers
rights and equality
Narrator
What did the strikers want in 1913?
All
A fair day’s pay for a fair days work.
Woman 1
A typical day was 12 hours long.
All
They also wanted union recognition.
Narrator
What did working class women want in 1913?
All
They lived in slums worse than Calcutta,
with poverty,
hunger,
typhus,
TB,
Diptheria
and death
as their everyday companions.
Woman 2
I just wanted to raise my babies. One baby in every 5 born to us died in
infancy. All we’re doing is burying our young.
Woman 3
We tried our best, but what can you do in a one room slum in a tene
ment that you share with 14 other families? More than 100 souls live in
this slum, sharing one dry toilet
Woman 4
Rats and disease, dry toilets, no running water, no medical care, no life
really
Woman 5
No advocates either. Cameron, the city medical officer produced a report
calling for an urgent public housing programme, an end to living in over
crowded conditions.
Woman 1
We wanted access to health services, the setting up of maternity services,
clean water and nutrition. The three most important things in life are
clean air, food and water; it’s no wonder we were dying.
Woman 6
It made for a great historical document, and social record, but no action,
and no mention of Equality, Fairness and Justice for our social class. It
was left to gather dust, much like us. Locked out, unrepresented, for
gotten and invisible.
41
2013
Narrator
One hundred years later, what do working class women want?
All
An end to poverty, inequality, sub-standard housing, hunger, death.
Woman 7
We want so little: access to health care, a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s
work.
All
A fair days pay for a fair days work.
Or will we be still locked out?
Personal Stories...
It’s very hard for me to provide for my family as I’m living day to day trying to manage
my money. It’s very hard because, come to the day before I get paid, I’m trying to get
lends off friends or family, because I do be running out of milk or sugar or bread. I
find myself in the same situation every week. My son is in SAOL crèche; he loves interacting with the other kids and my older son is in 2nd class and will be making his
holy communion this year, so he’ll be learning more about our religion. It’s very hard
living on social welfare, as I’m living in homeless accommodation and I pay €40 rent
every week out of the €200.17.
Nina
I find that living in hostel accommodation with my partner, both on Community
Employment payment, difficult. Every week you feel like you are waiting for payday
so you can pay bills and loans back. I feel discriminated against whenever I have to
give my address for anything. The cooking facilities are not enough for the amount of
people living in the hostel, which means that even basic needs like having regular
meals are not being met. I am hoping to move into nicer accommodation in the coming months.
Living on social welfare, I feel like you are the mercy of them for your money. If I’m
not paid, I won’t eat. My family don’t live in Dublin which means I have no one to
rely on and have to budget my money to ensure I have enough to get by. Each time
there are cuts, even if it’s only a couple of euro, makes a difference to my week.
My two brothers now live in Australia because they could not get work here; I find
that because of this my immediate family is very spread out, which is very hard on my
parents.
Jennifer
42
“Being a mother of two young boys in a country that is in recession is very difficult at
the moment. Money is very scarce and we have to watch every penny. I used to be able
to buy my week’s shopping and still have money left to go the corner shop for bits and
pieces but not anymore. There are no extras for sweets, as there is barely enough for
meat and veg and bread. There are a high number of people living on the streets and
homeless shelters are over-crowded. There are a number of charities like the Vincent
De Paul who come and help me and some weeks they give me vouchers for food. I find
the school clothes very expensive and paying rent is sometimes hard, especially as I am a
single mother.”
Sandra
“I think it is very hard living in the inner city. I’m a single mother. I’ve three children
but only one lives with me. I am living in homeless accommodation. I am trying to find
my own home so my family can be back with me, but I’m finding this so hard. Most
places want the rent and deposit up front and I just can’t afford it. I do feel depressed
most of the time over this, always worrying if am I going to have a roof over my daughter’s head tomorrow. Saving isn’t easy because the price of things has gone up and with
three children there’s always something that’s needed. With paying bills and doing your
food shop and my rent, it’s very hard to save any money. I have had to ask for help off
the Vincent de Paul many times, just so I can make ends meet. So life is getting harder
for me anyway.”
Simone
“From my perspective, I am currently on the Dublin Corporation housing list, and
have been for fourteen and a half years. My situation now is I’m living in my mother
and father’s home with my four brothers, aged between 22 and 42. I have three children; two girls aged 14 and 9 and one boy aged 6. We are all sleeping in a small box
room with just a double bed in it. It is so cramped and stuffy; it’s very hard, especially
for my eldest daughter, as she is going through puberty and also starting her first year
in secondary school. My only solution for my eldest daughter is to let her stay in my sister’s house for the time being, so she can get a proper sleep and study. I also think it’s
very unhygienic for all of use sleeping together in the one bed, even though I wash and
shower myself and my children every day. If one of my children falls ill, we all fall ill because we’re on top of each other. And also we have no privacy.
I feel very helpless as there is nothing I can do to change my situation. I just have to
keep my fingers crossed until September as then the Corporation guidelines change
and it won’t be going by points, (even though I have a hundred and ninety) it will be
going by how long you’re on the housing list.”
Sabrina
43
Personal Stories continued
My life, living in poverty in North Inner city Dublin today in 2013, as a mother of one
child, a three and a half year old boy, is quite hard. Worrying about making ends meet
from week to week; trying to budget enough money to cover the likes of food shopping,
electricity bills, the Sky bill for the television, and even things that seem small, like the
wheelie bin collection, can all really add up. And then you get unexpected things, even
something simple to wealthier people, like if my son needs a new pair of runners or if
he’s sick over the weekend.
Where I’m really struggling for money is if he’s that bad I’d have to call D.doc (the out
of hours service) which don’t accept medical cards at weekends. So I’d have no choice
but to call them out and end up paying at least €50. That can be extremely disruptive to
my budget for the next 2-3 weeks.
I always have to manage my income. So the day before I get paid, I write out my shopping list and come up with a rough estimate, to make sure I have more than enough, at
least for my son. I also gather all my bills together, which are usually about the same
amount every month, and with the rough estimate I try to calculate how much I’ll need
to put away every week to be able to pay them. It doesn’t always pan out exactly but I
just about get along.
Managing food is ok for me, as it’s usually the first thing I do when I get paid. I try to do
most of my shopping in Lidl because it’s such good value; and then I’ll buy certain
things like mine and my son’s favourite treats and bits and bobs in Tesco. I also put €20
in my bank account so I’ve a few bob towards the end of the week when I’m running a
bit low on cash, for the likes of milk, sugar, bread etc.
Trying to educate my son is a real worry for me, although he is in Saol Béag crèche at the
moment, and absolutely loves it. Primary and secondary school are fairly accessible but I
do really worry about the expenses for books, school uniforms, shoes, school outings etc.
But the main concern of education would be the likes of college because of expenses. I
try and make sure I put at least a fiver a week into his college account, just so I can do
my best to make sure he has the same chances as children from wealthier families have
when he is older. I’ve been saving in this account since before he was even born. I started saving when I was pregnant and had a bit more money, as I knew I wouldn’t have as
much when my little bundle of joy came along! But it’s getting harder and harder to
save.
Trying to live day to day on social welfare is okay for me as I’m quite organised, although
towards the end of the week I get a bit low on cash. But with all the cut backs, it does
mean tightening and juggling my budget a little more. Once I try my best to stick to my
budget and buy all the important things first, I usually get on fine and then I just learn
to adjust to living on a little less money. A lot of people who don’t rely on social welfare
or even those who do but have no children, or live at home with their parents probably
get annoyed by their money being cut but the affect on them is not as extreme as it is for
people in my situation.
Ashley
44
All:
Will we be still looking for these
essential rights in another hundred
years!
45
Above: As seen on the front cover, from left to right:
Back Row: Mairead Dowling; Siobhan Dowling; Anna Prince; Lacey Scott; Laura Stevenson, Sue Smithers; Brenda Browne; Helen Stuart
Middle Row: Jennifer Mooney; Tracey Ryan; Karen Byrne; Nina Comerford; Cathleen
O’Neill; Joeline Caffrey
Front Row: Edel Murphy; Sue Moulds; Belinda Nugent; Shirley Brennan
Below: Same again but in a slightly different order.
46
Above:
When asked about flashing her leg, Susan explained that she is a Monto Girl while everyone else worked for Jacob’s. Laura and Siobhan look a little perplexed!
Below:
Well, she started a trend and now everybody’s at it!
Full colour photo shows what a little filter and a creative mind can do. Thanks again to Ray
for all the excellent photographs.
47
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This publication has been possible because of on-going funding support from:
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