Countess Markievicz

1. Countess Markievicz 1868-1927 Image courtesy Barry Gibbons

2. Early Life Constance Gore Booth was born in London on 4th February 1868. She grew up in Lissadell House, a large landed estate in Co. Sligo. Constance was the eldest child of Sir Henry and Georgina Gore Booth. She had two sisters, Eva and Mabel and two brothers, Josslyn and Mordaunt. She was very close to her sister Eva who became a poet and human rights activist. Constance’s childhood was spent riding horses, rowing in Drumcliffe Bay and sketching. She was educated by a governess, Miss. Noel, who taught her literature and how to speak French. Constance with her sister Eva, 1895

3. Marriage Constance moved to Paris to study art in 1898. She met Polish Count Casimir Markievicz, also an art student, at a ball in Paris. They married in London in 1900 and Constance became known as Countess Markievicz. Children Casimir was a widower who had one son, Stanislaus. Constance and Casimir had one daughter, Maeve, who was born in Lissadell in 1901. The four lived together for a number of years in Dublin before Maeve moved to Sligo to live with her grandmother and Stanislaus went to boarding school in Co. Wexford.

4. From Art… Constance continued to paint when she returned to Ireland. Theatre had become very popular in Dublin and the Markieviczs set up the Independent Theatre Company. Constance performed as an actress, but wasn’t vey good, although she loved performing on stage. Casimir took care of the production side of things. … to Politics Helena Molony invited Constance to her first political meeting in 1908. It was a meeting of Inghinidhe na hÉireann, the organisation Maud Gonne founded so women could play their part in helping to achieve an independent Ireland. Around this time, Constance began to spend more time on politics than on either her acting or her art.

5. Na Fianna Markievicz (seated) with Na Fianna Countess Markievicz set up Na Fianna in 1909. This was a young boyscout troop named after Fionn MacCumhaill’s legendary army. It was set up to train the boys and prepare them to join a future Irish rather than British Army. The boys called Markievicz ‘Madame’ and the organisation became known as ‘Madame’s Fianna’. Many of its members later took part in the 1916 Rising, including Seán Heuston and Con Colbert.

6. During the 1913 Lockout, 25,000 workers were ‘locked out’ of work, so earned no wages to feed their families. Countess Markievicz and Delia Larkin set up a soup kitchen in the basement of Liberty Hall to feed the many hungry people in Dublin. Dr. Kathleen Lynn, Hanna Sheehy Skeffington & Helena Molony were some of those who helped out. 1913 Lockout

7. Irish Citizen Army After the 1913 Lockout, a people’s army was set up by James Connolly. Connolly was a socialist, he wanted better conditions for workers. Constance Markievicz joined the Irish Citizen Army and was appointed a lieutenant. The Citizen Army met in Liberty Hall. Dr. Kathleen Lynn also joined and she trained its members in First Aid. Liberty Hall, 1913

8. Easter Rising Constance Markievicz was 48 years old when the Easter Rising took place. A lieutenant in the Irish Citizen Army,she was armed with a Mauser and a bandolier. She wore breeches and an old uniform jacket belonging to Michael Mallin.Markievicz was second-in-command to Mallin in St. Stephen’s Green. 110 men and 11 women were stationed there during Easter week. The rebels moved to the safety of the Royal College of Surgeons on the Tuesday because the park was overlooked by the Shelbourne Hotel, which remained under British control during the Rising.

9. Arrest After the surrender, Markievicz was taken to Richmond Barracks. She was charged with ‘taking part in an armed rebellion and in the waging of war against His Majesty the King’. She was then moved to Kilmainham Gaol where she was held in solitary confinement. During this time, she could hear the executions taking place outside her cell window. Markievicz was the only woman to be court-martialled after the Rising. She was taken back to Richmond Barracks, where she was sentenced to death. The British Prime Minister was afraid there would be an outcry if a woman was executed, so her sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

10. Jail After her court martial, Constance Markievicz was sent to Mountjoy Prison. The Irish people were horrified at the executions which had taken place and, afraid of public protests, the British government transferred the remaining rebels to the UK. Markievicz was sent to Aylesbury Prison. Her friend Helena Molony also joined her there, but Markievicz was held in the criminal wing of the jail, where conditions were tougher. Aylesbury Jail, UK

11. Release Countess Markievicz was released from jail in July 1917. She received a large welcome home. When she returned to Ireland, she converted to Catholicism and toured around Ireland giving speeches calling for an Irish Republic. She was awarded both the Freedom of Sligo and Freedom of Kilkenny that summer.

12. Election The British authorities were afraid another Rising would occur, so they decided to arrest 73 members of Sinn Féin in 1918. Countess Markievicz was one of those arrested. She was sent to Holloway Jail in London with Maud Gonne and Kathleen Clarke. During the December 1918 election, Markievicz made history by becoming the first woman elected as an MP to Westminster. She represented St. Patrick’s in Dublin’s Inner City although she was in jail when the election took place. Sinn Féin members refused to take their seats in the Westminster parliament, so as a member of the party, Markievicz never actually sat in the UK parliament. The Irish rebels declared their own parliament called Dáil Éireann in January 1919. Eamon de Valera was elected leader of the new Dáil, when he was released from prison. Constance Markievicz was appointed Minister for Labour, becoming the first female cabinet Minister in Europe.

13. The Treaty & Civil War Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith were among those who went to London to negotiate a Treaty with Britain. The Anglo Irish Treaty would divide Ireland. Six counties would remain part of Britain and become Northern Ireland. The 26 counties would become a Free State but those in the Dáil would still have to swear an oath to the King. Constance Markievicz was against the Treaty because it didn’t offer a republic. In January 1919, the Dáil voted to accept the Treaty by 64 votes to 57. A civil war broke out between those who were against the Treaty (the Republicans) and those who were against (the Free Staters). All of the women in the Dáil voted against the Treaty.

14. USA trip In April 1922, Eamon de Valera asked Constance Markievicz to travel to the US to gather support and raise finance for an Irish Republic. Markievicz travelled around the States giving speeches in Boston, San Francisco, New York, Chicago and Philadelphia, where $50,000 was raised. In the US Markievicz picked up a new habit – she discovered chewing gum! Times Square, NYC, 1920s

15. Final years & Fianna Fáil Markievicz’s final years were spent painting and writing plays. She was a elected member of Rathmines Council and spent a lot of time campaigning for an Irish republic. She no longer had a home of her own. She was a lodger with the Coughlan family in Rathgar. She owned a second hand Ford car, which she cranked up before driving up to the Dublin Mountains, sometimes taking some of the local children on spins or she went there to paint or to gather turf, which she then brought back to the people living in poverty in the Dublin tenements. Markievicz with De Valera, June 1927. She broke her arm while cranking her car Constance Markievicz left Sinn Féin to join Eamon de Valera in setting up a new party, Fianna Fáil in 1926. In order to do so, she had to give up her membership and Presidency of Cumann na mBan, who were by now allied to the Irish Republican Army.

16. Death Markievicz’s health had deteriorated partly because of her various spells in prison. She became ill with peritonitis in July 1927. Eamon de Valera visited Markievicz and offered to have her moved to a private room in the hospital but she refused because she wanted to stay amongst the ordinary people of Dublin. Casimir and Stanislas travelled from Russia, her daughter Maeve travelled from the UK and friends such as Dr. Kathleen Lynn and Helena Molony gathered at her bedside. The Free State government refused to allow her body lie in State officially or to have a salute at her graveside. Tens of thousand of people lined the streets of Dublin the day of her funeral. Constance Markievicz died in Sir Patrick Dunn’s hospital, Dublin on 15th July 1927 and is buried in the Republican Plot, Glasnevin cemetery, Dublin.

17. Remembering Markievicz • Markievicz Park, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10 • Markievicz Flats, Townsend St, Dublin 2 • Markievicz Pool, Townsend St, Dublin 2 • Markievicz Park, Sligo • Statues in St Stephen’s Green, Townsend St & Sligo Town • There is a museum dedicated to Markievicz at Lissadell House, Co. Sligo. • The poet W.B. Yeats who visited Lissadell House in the 1890s, wrote a poem ‘In memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz’ in 1927