Margaret Skinnider and the fight for Irish Freedom

In the fight for Irish independence women played a prominent role from the 1916 rising through to the War of Independence (1919-21). Amongst them was Margaret Skinnider, who fought under Commdt. Michael Mallin and Countess Markievicz in the College of Surgeons in 1916 and was wounded twice. She later fought in the War of Independence.

Here the Irish Examiner reports on the death of Skinnider in October 1971:

She fought under the countess: Miss Margaret Skinnider, who has died in Dublin, was former president of the I.N.T.O., and fought in the College of Surgeons under Countess Markievicz in 1916 and throughout the War of Independence. She was wounded twice.

She was born in Scotland of Co. Monaghan parents and came to Dublin just before the 1916 Rising. A teacher at the Irish Sisters of Charity School, King's Inns Street, Dublin, she was elected to the executive of the I.N.T.O. in 1949 and retained this post until she was elected president in 1956.

In her late seventies, Miss Skinnider had retired for some years and for the past few weeks had been ill in St. Michael's Hospital, Dun Laoghaire. She is survived by a brother, Thomas, and three sisters, Mary, Mrs. G. O'Sullivan and Mrs B. Cullen.

As the historian and biographer of Skinnider, Mary McAuliffe, has commented:

During the next five decades of her life, she remained an active feminist, trade union activist and Irish republican. The study also looks at Skinnider's, until now, more hidden history, her committed relationship with her lifelong partner, fellow Cumann na mBan member and feminist activist, Nora O'Keeffe.

The story of Skinnider can be read at https://www.ucdpress.ie/page/detail/margaret-skinnider/?k=9781910820537  and for more information search the pages of the Irish Newspaper Archive (www.irishnewsarchive.com )