Launched in Wynne’s Hotel, Dublin, April 1914; those present, under the chairmanship of Agnes O’Farrelly, included Constance Markievicz, Kathleen Clarke, Aine Ceannt (widow of Eamonn Ceannt), Louise Duffy, Mrs Thomas Kettle, Mrs Eoin MacNeill, Lily O’Brennan, and Nannie O’Rahilly (widow of Michael O’Rahilly). Its first branch, the Central Branch, rented rooms from the Gaelic League in Parnell Square, Dublin. Although an independent organisation, its executive was subordinate to that of the Volunteers, which made Francis Sheehy-Skeffington charge it immediately with ‘crawling servility’. Cumann na mBan membership included many feminists who angrily rejected Sheehy Skeffington’s evaluation of their organisation. But this early acceptance of a subordinate role helps to explain why women, despite the tireless dedication and radicalism which characterized Cumann na mBan, were to be so effectively marginalised in politics after independence. It lost some members in November 1914 when it declared support for the Irish Volunteers. The radicalism of the group came into evidence when the vast majority of members voted to stay with the Irish Volunteers after the Volunteer split. By 1916 it had forty-three affiliated branches. It supported the Easter Rising (1916), during which members acted as nurses and despatch-carriers and in other supporting roles; Nurse Elizabeth O’Farrell delivered the surrender document issued by Patrick Pearse. The Rising claimed one fatality, Margaretta Keogh, at St Steven’s Green. Its constitution following the rising the association declared itself ‘an independent body of Irish women, pledged to work for the establishment of an Irish republic, by organising and training the women of Ireland to take their places by the side of those who are working for a free Ireland’. From 1916 to 1918 Cumann na mBan were largely in charge of fomenting the cult of the dead leaders through commemorative events. They also raised money for prisoners, canvassed for the 1918 elections and opposed conscription. A majority of members rejected the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 and many were imprisoned during the Civil War (at least 400). The rump which supported the Treaty called itself Cumann na Saoirse and included Ladies Land League veteran and Free Sate champion of women’s rights, Jenny Wyse Power. During the 1920s Cumann na mBan led by Maud Gonne supported the IRA and was associated with some of the radical movements of the period. In 1930-32 it was associated with a ‘buy Irish’ campaign and the foundation of Saor Eire, and was often attacked with ‘red scare’ tactics, as was the Fianna Fail party it helped to elect. Cumann na mBan continued to be active, mainly on the republican left, but was affected by splits in the IRA as well as within its own organisation.
