Print, Protest & the Polls: The Path to the First Female Vote
The Representation of the People Act was introduced to Parliament in 1918, which allowed for a select number of women (meeting certain criteria) to vote. This was preceded by a number of political and societal influences resulting from the outbreak of World War I in 1914, and the Easter Rising in Ireland in 1916.
The introduction and overview page for the Print, Protest & the Polls exhibition is here.
The Home Rule Bill for Ireland was passed in 1914, but the outbreak of the First World War in the same year postponed its enactment. The War divided the Irish suffragists, with some stepping back from suffrage activities to help in the war effort, and others distancing themselves from the events to continue to focus on suffrage. The struggle for Irish independence came to the fore for many politically involved women, with the formation of nationalist organisations such as the all-female auxiliary force of Cumann na mBan, and the Irish Citizen Army, which recruited men and women equally. An estimated three hundred women played a role in the 1916 Rising in Ireland. The 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic directly addressed the issue of female suffrage, stating that Ireland’s future National Government would be “elected by the suffrages of all her men and women”.
By 1918, the British government had recognised the need to reform the electoral register and voting regulations in order to allow millions of returning soldiers to vote in the general election. This need for change, coupled with the combined result of the long campaign for women’s suffrage and a recognition of women’s war work, helped to finally introduce changes for female suffrage. In February of 1918, the Representation of the People Act was introduced, reforming the electoral system in Britain and Ireland, and officially adding women to the electorate.
A postcard, circa 1912, reproduces the traditional Irish colleen image in a suffrage theme. Under the heading of Home Rule, a traditional colleen in red hooded shawl and green dress smiles at a poster with the message “Votes for the Colleens”. The image suggests that the old-fashioned Irishwoman is too innocent and out of touch to realise that Home Rule would not guarantee the female vote. Private ownership.
The Home Rule Bill for Ireland was passed in 1914, but the outbreak of the First World War in the same year postponed its enactment. The War divided the Irish suffragists, with some stepping back from suffrage activities to help in the war effort, and others distancing themselves from the events to continue to focus on suffrage. The struggle for Irish independence came to the fore for many politically involved women, with the formation of nationalist organisations such as the all-female auxiliary force of Cumann na mBan, and the Irish Citizen Army, which recruited men and women equally. An estimated three hundred women played a role in the 1916 Rising in Ireland. The 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic directly addressed the issue of female suffrage, stating that Ireland’s future National Government would be “elected by the suffrages of all her men and women”.
By 1918, the British government had recognised the need to reform the electoral register and voting regulations in order to allow millions of returning soldiers to vote in the general election. This need for change, coupled with the combined result of the long campaign for women’s suffrage and a recognition of women’s war work, helped to finally introduce changes for female suffrage. In February of 1918, the Representation of the People Act was introduced, reforming the electoral system in Britain and Ireland, and officially adding women to the electorate.
This headline on this handbill was a contentious one. During the period of war from 1914 onwards, many suffragists took different stances, with some participating in work to help the war effort, and others distancing themselves from involvement and continuing the suffrage campaign. A number of the women selling the Irish Citizen on the street were afraid to publicly display this headline in case they were mobbed.
The 1918 General Election in Ireland
1918 ushered in the Representation of the People Act to Parliament. This now allowed for a select number of women to vote. The right to vote was restricted to women over the age of thirty who owned or shared a certain amount of property (a minimum of £5 in worth), or who were university graduates. The new act also granted the vote to all men aged 21 and over, including men 19 and older if they were in military service. Following the changes to allow for a female electorate, the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918 was passed in November 1918. This allowed women the right to stand for election as a Member of Parliament in time for the 1918 general election.
In Ireland, Sinn Féin were the sole political party to nominate women candidates. They forwarded two female candidates – Countess Constance Markievicz in a Dublin constituency, and Winifred Carney in an unwinnable Belfast constituency. In total, seventeen women stood in the British and Irish parliament election in this year. The role of women as political party workers and voters played a crucial role in the election. Sinn Fein won a landslide victory in Ireland, with Markievicz elected as the first female MP to British parliament. Markievicz followed her party’s rule of abstentionism in protest at a non-native government, and never took up her seat in Westminster. She went on to become the first female TD in the first Dáil Éireann in 1919, serving as Minister for Labour. Her appointment helped to clear the way for the further movement of women into the political sphere in a new Ireland.
This poster shows how new female voters were specifically targeted by political parties in advance of the historic 1918 election. Sinn Féin were the only party to forward women candidates, which would have specifically appealed to new women voters who were eager to see a representative of their own gender enter the political sphere.
This printed sheet of promotional badges shows the twelve Sinn Féin MP’s elected in the 1918 election. It includes Countess Constance Markievicz, the first woman elected to the House of Commons, who is seen on the second badge down on the left hand row.
Beyond 1918
The fight for Irish women’s suffrage did not end with the granting of a partial female vote in 1918. This change to the law still excluded the right to vote for women under thirty, as well as women thirty and over who did not meet the stipulated property ownership requirements, or who were not university graduates. The Constitution of the Irish Free State in 1922 moved to reduce the voting age for women in Dáil Eireann elections from 30 to 21, the same as men. In 1973 the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland lowered the voting age for all citizens from 21 to 18.
In Irish parliamentary politics in 2018, a total of 53 women held seats in the Dáil and the Seanad. Female political representation stood at 22% in the Dáil, and at 30% in the Seanad. While these numbers demonstrated the highest proportion of female political involvement in the history of the State at the time of the vote centenary, these figures still fall well below the 50% representation ideal.
When we reach the next centenary of the change in women’s suffrage in the year 2118, the political landscape may have further changed to better suit the original ideals of the extraordinary individuals who led the fight for the female vote.
