Unique exhibition in Ballyroan remembering the women of 1916
By Mary Dennehy
THE women of 1916 who were incarcerated in Kilmainham Gaol for their anti-treaty beliefs are being remembered in a unique exhibition currently running in Ballyroan Library, Rathfarnham.
Called 1916 Women Rising Up, the exhibition features 16 acrylic portraits by Green Party councillor Francis Noel Duffy, who was introduced to some of the women who were willing to give their lives for their ideals and endure the rigors of hunger strike while on a tour of Kilmainham Gaol in 2004.
Cllr Duffy, who represents the Rathfarnham area, said: “I was first acquainted with the women in this exhibition in 2004 when I was surveying Kilmainham Gaol with students from the Dublin School of Architecture where I lecture.
“I met Niamh O’Sullivan from the Office of Public Works who facilitated a tour of the Gaol during which she spoke passionately about more than 300 forgotten women who were interned for their anti-treaty beliefs in the west wing.
“I was particularly motivated by her speech about the women who did not have national profile or privilege, like Nurse Elizabeth O’Farrell who accompanied Padraig Pearse in the official handing over the surrender documents”.
According to Cllr Duffy, the women involved in the struggle for Irish political independence between 1916 and 1923 were part of the long tradition of Irish patriotism – and no less than the men, they were willing to give their lives for their ideals and endure separation from friends and family for their beliefs.
However, history has not remembered them in the same way as their patriotic brothers.
Cllr Duffy, who is a self-thought artist with an architectural background, said: “It’s always humbling when I work with these women, who I have grown to know over the past 12 years through reading and recording their images, allowing them to express themselves as the inspired women they were.”
The exhibition, which consist of 16 portraits and bios, was officially launched by County Mayor Sarah Holland in award-winning Ballyroan Library last week.
Speaking at the event, Mayor Holland said: “It is an enormous privilege to be Mayor of South Dublin County for the centenary of the Rising and I am delighted to be launching this exhibition here this evening as it is a most fitting tribute to the memory of the Women of 1916.
“This exhibition is a collaboration between my colleague Deputy Mayor, Cllr Francis Noel Duffy, South Dublin Libraries and South Dublin County Council’s Centenary Programme of Events to celebrate the forgotten lives of the women who played a pivotal role in the events of 1916”.
She added: “I think you will all agree that the exhibition is fantastic, and gives a voice to all those women involved in 1916.
“I would like to say well done to Francis on producing such fabulous work.”
Cllr Duffy spent two years creating each portrait and gathering information on the 16 women, with Sinead McCoole’s book No Ordinary Women a huge resource to Cllr Duffy’s understanding of the lives of these women and their determination to be counted in their desire for independence.
READ MORE:
