Cumann na Saoirse (The League for Freedom) was an Irish republican women's organisation formed in Dublin in 1922, following a split in Cumann na mBan.
History
On 7 January 1922 the Anglo-Irish Treaty was approved by the Second Dáil by a close vote of 64–57. On 5 February a convention was held to discuss this, and 419 Cumann na mBan members voted against as opposed to 63 in favour. The Pro-Treaty women, headed by Jennie Wyse Power set up Cumann na Saoirse to replace Cumann na mBan in March 1922.[1] Some of those who supported the Treaty changed the name of their branches to Cumann na Saoirse, while others retained their name but gave allegiance to the Free State Government.[2]
By July 1923, the Irish Civil War having ended, the organisation was ready to dissolve itself.[3] It enquired to Richard Mulcahy about transferring membership to an Irish Red Cross, but no such society was set up until 1939.[3]
References
^Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing vol. 5, p. 122
^ abLehane, Shane (2019). A History of the Irish Red Cross. Four Courts Press. p. 44. ISBN9781846827877.
Sources
Conlon, Lil (1969). Cumann na mBan and the Women of Ireland 1913–1925. Kilkenny: Kilkenny People.
Boylan, Henry, (ed.), A Dictionary of Irish Biography (Dublin 1999).
Ward, Margaret, 'Marginality and Militancy: Cumann na mBan, 1914-1936', in Austen Morgan and Bob Purdie (eds.), Ireland: Divided Nation, Divided Class (London 1980).
External links
"Cumann na Saoirse". Points for Canvassers. Cumann na Saoirse. 1922. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
