Margaret Skinnider was born on May 5, 1892, at Coatbridge, Glasgow, to Irish immigrant parents, James Skinnider and Jane Dowd. She was a mathematics teacher in Glasgow until she resigned to join the Irish independence movement. At the end of 1915, Skinnider traveled to Dublin at the invitation of Constance Markievicz. Skinnider returned again to Dublin for the 1916 Easter Rising. She transported hidden ammunition to Liberty Hall, served as a dispatch rider for Michael Mallin at St. Stephen’s Green, and was a sniper with four men under her command tasked with setting fire to a building to cut off a retreating British force. During the rebellion she was shot three times and spent seven weeks in the hospital.
As a member of Cumann na mBan, Skinnider went to the United States for a propaganda tour in December 1916. When she returned, she trained volunteer recruits and played a role in the Irish War of Independence, taking part in the Battle of the Four Courts, where she served as a courier to the anti-treaty commanders. From 1922-1923 she was imprisoned in Mountjoy Prison and the North Dublin Union. After her release, Skinnider taught in Dublin and, in 1949, became a member of the Irish National Teachers’ Organization, of which she became president in 1956. Skinnider died on October 10, 1971.
