Equality Denied Rathangan Community Library March 25th

'Equality Denied’ on Saturday March 25th takes place in Rathangan Community Library and features presentations by Caitlin White, and Karel Kiely, County Archivist, Kildare. The presentations will be followed by a panel discussion teasing out questions such as - whether the opposition of so many women to the Treaty provided the justifications for the marginalisation of women? Or whether it was inevitable given the influence of the Catholic Church and the succession of very conservative governments who led the new state?

This is a free event running from 10.00 – 1.00 but registration is essential as places are limited. To book a place phone 045 528078 Or email [email protected]

Background

The Ireland which emerged from the Civil War repudiated the promise in the Easter Proclamation of equal citizenship, equal rights and equal opportunities for women. Going further it minimised the role played by women in the Revolutionary Period, refused to acknowledge or speak of the violence visited on women, and actively wrote women out of the official narrative. Many of those who had been active in the Revolutionary Period found themselves living in a state which was both uncaring and hostile.

Presentation One - Caitlin White

In ‘Women Making History’ Caitlin White reminds us of the women who were actively shaping Ireland’s future through their involvement in the Suffrage Movement, Trade Unions, the Literary Revival and the Struggle for Independence. Caitlin’s research interests include memory, 20th century Irish social history, commemoration and identity. She has published a chapter on Irish public history in The Public in Public History (Routledge 2021), and was featured in History Ireland’s Civil War supplement, The Split (2021).

Presentation Two - Karel Kiely

In Women scorned - A study of Republican Women Activists in Co. Kildare 1916-23 through pension applications and newspaper reports. Karel Kiely - Kildare County Archivist – builds on her work recovering the names and biographies of women who have been written out of history. Educated in Trinity College Dublin, and Maynooth University, she has been involved in genealogy and local history for over thirty years. A former Secretary of the Irish Family History Foundation, she set up and managed the first Irish site to make genealogical records available online - www.rootsireland.ie She is co-author of a number of books including Tracing Your Kildare Ancestors and Remembrance: The World War Dead of Co. Kildare.

This is a free event running from 10.00 – 1.00 but registration is essential as places are limited.

To book a place phone 045 528078

Or email [email protected]