Countess Constance Markievicz (1868-1927) was an Irish revolutionary who actively participated in the defense of the working classes, the feminist cause and the struggle for the independence of the Republic of Ireland. A colorful character with essentially socialist convictions, Countess Markievicz is known throughout Ireland for her fight…
Constance Markievicz was born in Lidassel, County Sligo, on February 4, 1868. Her father (Sir Henry Gore-Booth) is a wealthy landowner of middle-class extraction, so their lives are very comfortable. Constance soon decided to study art, and moved to London, then Paris, where she took a course focusing on pictorial art. There she met Casimir Markievicz, a Polish man she fell in love with and decided to marry. It was during these years that she was introduced to socialism and the fight for women’s rights.
After completing her studies, she decided to return to Ireland and move to Dublin. From 1903 onwards, she continued to paint and act in numerous plays. There she met Maud Gonne, a socialist campaigning for Irish independence and women’s rights. With so much in common, Markievicz befriended her, and decided to join the feminist movement created by Gonne: “The Women of Erin” (or “Inghinidhe na hEireann” in Gaelic).
In 1908, Constance Markievicz joined Sinn Féin, a political party fighting against the British presence in Ireland. Very active, she set up a “Youth” section within the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), took part in anti-British demonstrations, campaigned on behalf of Dublin’s poorest families, and became a member of the Irish Citizen Army.
During the Bloody Easter of 1916, Constance Markievicz led the Cumann na mBan, the women’s brigade involved in the revolt. There, she distributed medicines to the wounded, and engaged in particularly violent fighting with the British.
After 6 days of fierce battle, the Easter Rising proved a failure, and Markievicz was imprisoned in Aylesbury, then in Kilmainham Gaol for high treason. The British court sentenced her to life imprisonment, failing to execute her like some of the movement’s leaders…
In 1917, the Countess was released thanks to a general amnesty. She then rejoined Sinn Féin, and became an emblematic figure in the Irish struggle. She was elected to Parliament in 1918 by Sinn Féin, then became Minister of Labor in Eamon De Valera’s government. She resigned in 1921, however, as she was resolutely opposed to the Peace Treaty…
When the civil war broke out, she took up arms again and joined the Fianna Fáil. It was only a few years after the Civil War that he was diagnosed with cancer. Faced with illness, she died on July 15, 1927 at Patrick Dunn Hospital, and was buried in Glasnevin cemetery in Dublin. The whole of Ireland paid her an unprecedented tribute, praising her convictions and her predisposition to fight injustice, as a bourgeois countess who was not forced to act. The Irish affectionately nicknamed her the “Red Countess”, a reminder of her socialist convictions…
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