Irish Women's Movement

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the emergence, consolidation, and development of the Irish women's movement in the course of the 20th century. It illuminates the processes through which the movement and its networks of organizations came to fruition as agencies of social change. Connolly argues that the Irish women's movement is characterized by its interconnectedness and continuity: its central tensions, themes, and organizing strategies connect diverse organizations and constituencies.

This is an incisive, comprehensive history of the Irish women's movement from the 1860s to today, now in paperback for the first time. It shows how a network of constituent organizations and individuals was transformed into an engine of social change. While feminism is a major intellectual and political tradition in Ireland, it has been misrepresented and misunderstood in mainstream Irish studies.

Linda Connolly is Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Cork, Ireland.