Wild Irish Women: Extraordinary Lives from History

by Marian Broderick

Overview

From patriots to pirates, warriors to writers, and mistresses to male impersonators, this book looks at the unorthodox lives of inspiring Irish women.

In times when women were expected to marry and have children, they travelled the world and sought out adventures; in times when women were expected to be seen and not heard, they spoke out in loud voices against oppression; in times when women were expected to have no interest in politics, literature, art, or the world outside the home, they used every creative means available to give expression to their thoughts, ideas and beliefs.

In a series of succinct and often amusing biographies, Marian Broderick tells the life stories of these exceptional Irish women.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781847174611
Publisher:	Irish American Book Company
Publication date:	11/15/2012
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Marian Broderick is a writer and editor who lives and works in London. She is second-generation Irish; her parents are from Donegal and Limerick. She spent every summer of her childhood in Ireland and has developed strong links with the place and the people. Wild Irish Women: Extraordinary Lives from History proved hugely popular on publication in 2001 and Marian furthered her research to bring the reader more wild Irish women in Bold, Brilliant & Bad: Irish Women from History (2018).

Table of Contents

	Introduction	9
	Women of Letters
	Maria Edgeworth	12
	Lady Sydney Morgan	17
	Marguerite, Countess of Blessington	22
	Lady Jane Wilde	25
	Lady Augusta Gregory	32
	Somerville and Ross	38
	Peig Sayers	42
	Kate O'Brien	46
	Wives and Lovers
	Eleanor FitzGerald, Countess of Desmond	50
	Marie Louise (Louison) O'Morphi	55
	Eibhlin Dubh ni Chonaill	59
	Dora Jordan	62
	Sarah Curran	67
	Katharine O'Shea	71
	Bridget Cleary	73
	Nora Barnacle	76
	Kitty Kiernan	80
	The Great Pretenders
	Kit Cavanagh	84
	Anne Bonny	88
	Dr James Barry	91
	Women on the Front Line
	Anne Devlin	98
	Mother Jones	104
	Madame Eliza Lynch	108
	Dr Kathleen Lynn	110
	Delia Larkin	114
	Mairead Farrell	116
	Veronica Guerin	119
	Ahead of Their Time
	Lady Arabella Denny	124
	Nano Nagle	129
	Ladies of Llangollen	132
	Mary Ann McCracken	136
	Kate Tyrrell	141
	Countess Constance Markievicz	143
	Hanna Sheehy Skeffington	150
	Dame Kathleen Lonsdale	157
	Political Animals
	Gormlaith	162
	Charlotte Despard	164
	Fanny and Anna Parnell	169
	Maud Gonne	172
	Louie Bennett	180
	Mary MacSwiney	182
	Kathleen Clarke	186
	Saints and Sinners
	St Brighid	194
	Dame Alice Kyteler	197
	Margaret Lesson	201
	Lady Betty	204
	Venerable Catherine McAuley	206
	Margaret Haugherey	211
	Tough Cookies
	Queen Maeve of Connacht	216
	Katherine FitzGerald, Old Countess of Desmond	218
	Grace O'Malley	220
	Inion Dubh	228
	Maire Rua O'Brien	231
	Biddy Early	233
	Molly Brown	236
	Kathleen Behan	238
	Intrepid Travellers
	Lola Montez	242
	Daisy Bates	250
	Beatrice Grimshaw	255
	Lady Mary Heath	260
	Maura 'Soshin' O'Halloran	265
	Stars of Stage and Screen
	Peg Woffington	270
	George Anne Bellamy	276
	Sara Allgood	279
	Dame Ninette de Valois	282
	Greer Garson	285
	Siobhan McKenna	287
	Artistic Temperaments
	Sarah Purser	292
	Lily and Lolly Yeats	295
	Grace Gifford	299
	Mainie Jellett	302
	Glossary	307
	Bibliography	313

Editorial Reviews

Broderick, a freelance writer and editor of Irish heritage who resides in London, here profiles 71 Irishwomen, both well known and unknown and including writers, nuns, artists, warriors, killers, journalists, politicians, and many others. Although the women are grouped according to 11 categories (e.g., tough cookies, women on the front line, great pretenders), many of them could have been included in more than one category. Maud Gonne, for example, is categorized as a "political animal" but is also styled the "Princess Diana of her day." Unlike Edmund Lenihan's Ferocious Irish Women, this work defines women as wild only in the sense of their being unconventional for their time. Whether Irish-born but making their mark elsewhere (like Mother Jones), Irish by inclination (like Countess Markievicz), or possibly mythical (like the pre-Christian Queen Maeve), these women all fulfill the author's purpose of telling a good story and help to relieve what historian Margaret Ward has called our "collective amnesia" about women's place. Although interesting reading and a good introduction to the subject, this title will not replace a more comprehensive biographical dictionary and reference book like Kit and Cyril O'Ceirins's Women of Ireland. For Irish and women's collections in college and public libraries. Janice Dunham, John Jay Coll. Lib., CUNY Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

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