{"id":156688,"date":"2018-07-18T09:52:13","date_gmt":"2018-07-18T09:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/first-woman-mp-markievicz-to-be-honoured-in-parliament\/"},"modified":"2018-07-18T09:52:13","modified_gmt":"2018-07-18T09:52:13","slug":"first-woman-mp-markievicz-to-be-honoured-in-parliament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/first-woman-mp-markievicz-to-be-honoured-in-parliament\/","title":{"rendered":"First woman MP Markievicz to be honoured in Parliament"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"ConstanceImage copyright PRONI
Image caption Constance Markievicz died in 1927 aged 59, nine years after refusing to take her seat in Westminster <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One hundred years after winning a seat in the House of Commons, the first woman MP is finally to grace the corridors of Westminster.<\/p>\n

It was a seat that Constance Markievicz never took - in line with Sinn F\u00e9in's abstentionist policy.<\/p>\n

Remarkably, she fought the 1918 election for the constituency of Dublin St Patrick's from a cell in Holloway prison - and out of 18 women candidates, she was the only one to win a seat.<\/p>\n

Her portrait, donated by the Irish parliament, is to be received later on Wednesday by Speaker John Bercow on behalf of the House of Commons. <\/p>\n

Ready to die for Ireland<\/h2>\n

Born in 1868, Constance Gore-Booth was an Anglo-Irish aristocrat, but developed an allegiance to an Irish Republic.<\/p>\n

Image copyright PRONI
Image caption WB Yeats immortalised Constance Gore-Booth, left, and her sister Eva, as "two girls in silk kimonos, both beautiful, one a gazelle" <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She spent her childhood at Lissadell House in County Sligo, but was eager to travel and studied art in London and Paris.<\/p>\n

It was at the Acad\u00e9mie Julian in Paris that she met Casimir Markievicz; the pair married in London in 1900.<\/p>\n

Commonly known as Count and Countess Markievicz, her family and some historians have raised questions about the provenance of the title.<\/p>\n

Campaigned against Churchill<\/h2>\n

Constance Markievicz - or Madame de Markievicz, as she was known - was the first woman elected to the House of Commons, and she was the first woman elected to the First D\u00e1il.<\/p>\n

Image copyright PRONI
Image caption Constance Gore-Booth, pictured here as a debutante in 1884, soon became involved in the suffragist movement <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lauren Arrington, a senior lecturer at the Institute of Irish Studies at Liverpool University, said Markievicz was exposed to alternative political opinions while she was in the French capital.<\/p>\n

"She was at the centre of an avant-garde culture in Paris and she encountered ideals that were sensible to her - that women should be equal to men," said Ms Arrington.<\/p>\n

Constance joined her sister, Eva, in Manchester in 1908: As key players in the Barmaids' Political Defence League, they successfully campaigned against the re-election of Winston Churchill in the Manchester North West by-election. <\/p>\n

Hearing executions from her cell<\/h2>\n

But while Markievicz was an anti-imperialist, the 1913 Dublin lockout was a pivotal moment for her.<\/p>\n

"It's the lockout and the formation of the Irish Citizen Army which brings her to republicanism," said Ms Arrington.<\/p>\n

Image copyright PRONI
Image caption Constance Markievicz was hailed as a hero when she returned to Dublin from prison in 1917 <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Constance Markievicz took part in the Easter Rising of 1916 and fought against British crown forces under socialist rebel Michael Mallin at St Stephen's Green in Dublin.<\/p>\n

The rising was unsuccessful and the ringleaders, including Markievicz, were sentenced to death. <\/p>\n

At her court martial, Markievicz declared she was "ready to die for Ireland one way or another". <\/p>\n

However, Markievicz's death sentence was commuted to life in prison because she was a woman.<\/p>\n

This greatly frustrated her, according to Ms Arrington. <\/p>\n

"It annoyed her as she felt that she shouldn't get off purely because she was a woman, and she also felt some responsibility for the jailed rebels she knew from Na Fianna \u00c9ireann - a nationalist youth organisation Markievicz co-founded with Bulmer Hobson," explained Ms Arrington.<\/p>\n

"In the first few days after the Rising she was in prison in Kilmainham Gaol, and she could hear the other executions happening from her cell. <\/p>\n

"That was torturous for her." <\/p>\n

Proud Irish patriot<\/h2>\n

Although Constance Markievicz was released from prison in 1917 under a general amnesty, she was detained again by 1918.<\/p>\n

The British government feared a repeat of the 1916 Easter Rising and arrested most of the Sinn F\u00e9in leadership charging them with entering into treasonable communication with the German enemy.<\/p>\n

"The charges were trumped-up", explains Ms Arrington adding that "the government underestimated the extent to which the imprisonment would be a rallying-cry and actually increase Sinn Fein's political power".<\/p>\n

Later that year, Prime Minister David Lloyd George called a general election immediately after Armistice Day.<\/p>\n

Campaigning from a cell in London's Holloway prison, Markievicz combined her suffragist ideals with her anti-imperialism.<\/p>\n

"Her platform was for a republic in which men and woman would be equal, and Ireland would be free to pursue its own destiny," said Lauren Arrington.<\/p>\n

Rather than take her seat in the House of Commons, Madame de Markievicz - along with 72 other Sinn F\u00e9in MPs - refused to acknowledge the authority of the British government, and instead helped establish the First D\u00e1il at Dublin's Mansion House in January 1919.<\/p>\n

Markievicz died in 1927 aged 59, in a public ward in Dublin's Sir Patrick Dun's hospital.<\/p>\n

Her funeral was attended by the great and the good of Irish society, including Prime Minister \u00c9amon de Valera.<\/p>\n

Image Copyright @RTEArchives @RTEArchives Report<\/a><\/noindex> <\/figure>\n
\"TwitterImage Copyright @RTEArchives @RTEArchives Report<\/a><\/noindex> <\/figure>\n

Aristocrat, abstentionist, anti-imperialist, suffragette, feminist, and Irish revolutionary, Constance Markievicz enters the House of Commons honoured for her role in Anglo-Irish history.<\/p>\n

Her portrait will form part of the UK Parliament's Voice and Vote exhibition until 6 October, when it will be transferred to nearby Portcullis House to go on public display.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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