Cumann na Saoirse explained

Cumann na Saoirse
Founder:	Jennie Wyse Power
Headquarters:	Ireland
Country:	the Republic of Ireland
Country2:	Northern Ireland

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]

Sources

• Book: 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

Web site: Cumann na Saoirse . Cumann na Saoirse . Points for Canvassers . 1922 . 30 March 2015.

Notes and References

1. Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing vol. 5, p. 122
2. Conlon, pp. 268–270
3. Book: Lehane . Shane . A History of the Irish Red Cross . 2019 . Four Courts Press . 9781846827877 . en . 44.