WHILE THE names of the men of 1916 - Pearse, Connolly, Clarke, Plunkett, and others - are well known, the significant contribution of women to the rebellion has long been over looked and underappreciated.
To rectify this, and to highlight the role women played in the event which would culminate in Irish Independence in 1921, the NUI Galway Cumann Staire (history society ), the Feminist Society, and DramaSoc, will host The Women of the Rising: The Untold Stories, in the Aras Uí Cathaill lecture theatre, beside the Bailey Allen Hall, this evening at 7.30pm. The event will form part of the NUI Galway ISDA Theatre Fringe Festival panel discussion series.
The main guest will be actor/playwright Gerry Conneely whose radio play The Gifford Girls is due to be broadcast in the coming weeks. The NUIG event will hear extracts from the play, as well as audio and video interviews with women recounting their experiences during the Rising. There will also be a panel discussion, featuring Ríona Hughes, producer of The Gifford Girls, and Caitriona Clear, senior lecturer, Department of History, NUIG. Ms Clear is a founder member of the Women's History Association of Ireland and the author of several books on 19th century Irish women's history and social history generally.
The organisers say the event will "bring to life extraordinary women" such as Constance Markievicz; Helena Molony; and the Gifford sisters, Grace, who married Joseph Plunkett on the night of his execution; and Muriel who was married to Thomas McDonagh. All are welcome.
