06 Feb Print, Protest, and The Polls: The Irish women’s suffrage campaign and the power of print media, 1908 – 1918
This exhibition commemorates the centenary of the first female vote in Ireland through exploration of the use of print media by the Irish suffragists, and their opponents, in their methods of promotion and protest. The exhibition aims to shine a light on a neglected period in Irish women’s history, while simultaneously exploring the powerful relationship between the contemporary political protest and the developing print media. Exhibition content includes print ephemera, photographs, and newspaper publications which illustrate the influence and effect of protest through print in a period of early media. It demonstrates the role which the process of print played in the Irish fight for women’s rights to vote, and will feature print ephemera which has never before been exhibited publicly. The exhibition iscurated by Donna Gilligan, a material culture historian who specialises in the research of the objects and images of the Irish suffrage campaign.
The exhibition is supported by Dublin City Council, Spera Brand Management, Smurfit Kappa Ireland, European Year of Cultural Heritage, Vermillion, Colorman and the National Library of Ireland.
A full education programme will accompany the exhibition throughout the summer.
17 May – 30 September 2018
Exhubition now extended until mid-November!
Admission free of charge
Protest through Print: Women’s Suffrage and Print Media Centenary Seminar
Friday 14 September, 9.30 – 16.00
In the centenary year of women’s suffrage, the National Print Museum is delighted to host a day-long seminar exploring the use of print media by Irish suffragists and their opponents in their methods of promotion and protest.
A number of expert speakers will discuss the suffrage campaign’s strategic use of print media such as newspapers and cartoons, the events of the 1918 general election, and the ways in which print was used as a mass media for the development of the movement.
This event is being organised in conjunction with the Museum’s current exhibition Print, Protest and The Polls. Admission is free, but booking is required to secure a place. Click here to register for this event via Eventbrite.
Seminar Speakers and Schedule
09.30am – 10.00am Registration
10.00am – 10.15am Welcome & opening remarks, Senator Ivana Bacik
10.15am – 11.15am
Dr Mary McAuliffe Irish working class women, activism and the vote in 1918
James Curry The Irish Citizen cartoons of Ernest Kavanagh, ‘gentle pacifist, shot in the streets’
Q&A
11.15am – 11.45am Tea & Coffee Break
11.45am – 12.45pm Dr William Murphy ‘Throwing metaphorical spanners into official machinery’: the suffragist boycott of the census of Ireland, 1911.
Donna Gilligan ‘Shrieking Harridans’, Clucking Chickens, and Respectable Ladies: Views of women’s suffrage in Irish picture postcards
Q&A
12.45pm – 1.45pm Lunch Break
1.45pm – 2.45pm
Dr Margaret Ward “Not all your palaver will make me continue” – glimpses behind the scenes of the Irish Citizen
Karen Fitzgerald A Suffragette in the Family: Laura Geraldine Lennox
Q&A
2.45pm – 3.30pm Group Discussion & Final Questions
3.30pm – 3.45pm Closing comments
The Museum is offering a discount for all seminar delegates on the Response Project and Replica Series prints, which were created in connection with the Print, Protest and The Polls exhibition. Details of how to avail of this discount offer will be made available once you book a place on the Seminar.
The Seminar is kindly supported by the European Year of Cultural Heritage – Community Heritage Grant Scheme 2018.
Replica Series
Together with the National Library of Ireland, the National Print Museum has reproduce and important suffrage poster.
The poster hails from the NLI’s collection and was printed letterpress on the Museum’s Vandercook press by graphic artist Mary Plunkett.
The commemorative replica is made up of a limited edition of 500 posters that are available in store and online from 16 May at €25 each.
The project is being run in connection with the upcoming exhibition “Print, Protest and The Polls: The Irish women’s suffrage campaign and the power of print media”. The original poster is on loan to the Museum throughout the exhibition period 17 May to 30 September.
The paper is sponsored by Antalis and the plate by Flexographic Plate Plan.
Response Project
The National Print Museum is delighted to announce a project with three leading figures in letterpress in Ireland.
Dave Darcy of One Strong Arm, Mary Plunkett of The Belgrave Private Press, and Jamie Murphy of The Salvage Press were invited to individually respond to the upcoming exhibition theme exploring its contemporary relevance.
Each artist has created their own letterpress print that is on display during the exhibition “Print, Protest and The Polls: The Irish women’s suffrage campaign and the power of print media”. The prints are on sale in store and online. Each print is of a limited edition of just 100 – commemorating 100 years of women’s right to vote and cost €100 each or a special price of €280 for the set.
For more information on the print projects go to the Museum Shop.