← Who Did What Now
Who Did What Now
184. Countess Constance Markievicz - Revolutionary Woman
00:47:06
Rebel, artist, countess, revolutionary
Loading summary
Transcript11 lines
- [00:00]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try it@progressive.com, progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states.
- [00:20]
Grow Therapy Announcer
History shows women keep showing up for everyone every day. But who's showing up for you? Grow Therapy helps you put your mental health first with therapy that's covered by insurance and built to support you whether it's your first time in therapy or your 50th. Grow makes it easier to find a therapist who fits you, not the other way around. You can search by what matters like insurance, specialty, identity or availability and get started in as little as two days. There are no subscriptions, no long term commitments. You just pay per session. Grow helps you find therapy on your time. Whatever challenges you're facing, Grow Therapy is here to help. Grow accepts over 100 insurance plans, including Medicaid in some states. Sessions average about $21 with insurance and some pay as little as $0 depending on their plan. Visit growththerapy.com acast to get started. That's growthherapy.com acast growtherapy.com acast availability and coverage vary by state and ins plan
- [01:31]
Katie Charlwood
acast powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend. Christian Bale was preparing for his role in American Psycho, dressing the part, hitting the gym for the first time in his life, even getting his teeth redone. There was just one problem. He didn't actually have the part. Leonardo DiCaprio did. Listen to our podcast what went Wrong? Every week as we unearth the chaos behind Hollywood's biggest movie flops and most shocking successes. Available wherever you get your podcasts, Acast helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com. Hello delicious friends, and welcome to who did what Now? The History podcast. That's not your history class with me, your host, Katie Charlwood, history harlot and reader of books, of course. Before we start today, quick life update. Because apparently my brain cannot simply begin an episode without talking about myself. Oh no, listen, at least I'm aware I'm self involved. No, I am. I am so excited about going stateside. Like it's. It's so close now. And I'm gonna be bringing some goodies with me. I've got stuff to bring my friends. And by goodies I do mean handmade chocolates and other Gastronomical treats from Europe. Right. Sometimes actually, like, I know people are getting like kind of saying, like, don't come over, don't do this, don't do that. But like, I have friends I haven't seen in a year and I just think it's really good to stay connected with people and I want to show them that just because everything is on fire around them that I'm not running away. Anyway, you know, I get asked a lot, like why I bother, like writing, recording, editing and publishing History podcast in today's day and age. Apparently the textbooks decided that the best way to tell history was to focus exclusively on men named John, William or Henry. Doing a wee bit of colonialism. Speaking of colonialism, totally embarrassed myself this week. I was talking about the Rani from John C. And I completely buggered up the name. I did five takes just to be sure and somehow managed to post the worst one. Right. See eventually when I do get round to do the British Empire and the Indian Subcontinent series because, yeah, that I. I gotta break it up into sections because the empire did so many things. Like the sun never sets on the British Empire. Like I'm gonna have to take it by like region like there. I don't have another option for this because it's just huge, massive, like a peach. Anyway, so like they were everywhere. So I will be getting help from pronunciations. Like I'm probably gonna be asking some of my kids friends. Like some of them are like Western Asian. So I may just be like, listen, I'll help you with your Irish if you want to help me with this, please. I need to help with Hindi, Bengali and Urdu. Like, please, I know there's more. There's like 250, 260 languages there. But you know, I mean, I mean, who knows how many. I'll have to try not to mess up. But I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, Katie, quit your jibber jabber. And fact me and fact you I will. But first we've got to get our source on. Our sources are. A woman's place is in the Cabinet. Women Ministers in The Irish Government, 1919-2019 by Maeve McNamara British National Archives W035211. Constance Markovich by Sian O' Whelan the Rebel the Life and Times of Constance Markovich by Ann Marco. Constance Markovich the People's Countess by Joel McGowan. The Irish Republic by Dorothy McCardle. And of course we have our old favourites, history.com and biography.com. i use it in comfortably. Good. Then let's begin. I use it in comfortably. Good. Then let's begin. Today I'm talking about a woman who was many things. An aristocrat, a revolutionary, a sharpshooter, a political prisoner, and frankly, someone who was an absolute nightmare for the British authorities. The one, the only, Countess Constance Markovich. And before we get started, listen, if you're Irish, you. You know who this is. If you haven't heard who this is, I do not know how. If you're not Irish, you may not have heard her name, but sometimes you may have known her like anyone who has heard of her may know her as just like the countess who did that rebellion, you know what I mean? Which is technically correct, but also wildly undertelling of the chaos. See, Countess Markiewicz was a woman who looked at the British Empire, which at the time was basically the most powerful empire on the planet, and said, you know, basically, I think I'm gonna rebel. And not only rebel, but organize and fight and run soup kitchens and command trips. And I am getting ahead of myself. So let's go back a wee bit. Constance Markovitch was born Constance Georgine Gorbuth on the 4th of February, 1868 in Buckingham Gate in London. This was in England. London, England. She was born to Sir Henry Gorbooth and Georgina Gorbooth, but she grew up mostly in Sligo, so County Sligo, which is in Ireland. And she stayed at the family estate in Lysadel House. Her sister, Eva Gorbuth would be born two years later. So her father, Sir Henry Gorbooth, was a wealthy Anglo Irish landlord and baronet. He was also a well known Arctic explorer. Which means that Constance grew up in the kind of house where the ceilings were high, the gardens were absolutely massive, and there were probably more horses than people, however, and this is unusual for the time, but her parents were actually quite socially conscious. So like during the famine of 1879. Now, not in Gorta more. So that was before. So people think there was just one famine, that there wasn't just one famine there. There was a couple. One of them, like, the worst is in Gorta more. And I. I never called it the Potato famine. No one has ever called it the potato famine. It was always just referred to in English osperla as the famine. Right. Because it's like people starved. And that's kind of the gist of it. I will be talking about the famine properly another time, but I'm gonna go into the deep dive of. And gorta more. But so Basically this is the second time, third time maybe that this has come around because famines, they were common because of, you know, colonial mismanagement. And so they are doing a lot of stuff that's more socially conscious. So her dad, the baronet, opened the estate kitchens to feed local families. So like during times of hardship, right, what a lot of like the big landowners would do, anyone who had like any sense of moral compass, like they would get things built. So there are lots of estates in Ireland actually where there's just kind of walls, lots of little walls for no reason. Like it's a very strange areas that are walled off or there's like follies, like you see that more in the uk, I think Foleys are built and it's basically giving someone a job so that you can pay them. It's just finding a way to pay people so they can eat. And this would happen quite a lot because being a member of that sort of ruling class, you're not supposed to just give things away. Like people have to earn it. And so it became this, this excuse of going, oh no, I'm, I'm not giving my money away, I'm paying this person for this service anyhow. What this meant is that young Constance grew up seeing both privilege and poverty side by side, which gave her a very different perspective to the typical ruling class of the time. What was typical of the time was the girls education. The Gorbooth sisters were schooled at home by governesses and they learned French, German, Latin, Greek and normal things, basic math, poetry, although the poetry was mainly instilled in them thanks to their grandmother, who was also a poet. A childhood friend of the sisters was poet W.B. yeats. William Butler Yeats. Yes, the Sligo man. He often visited the family, like in Lysadel House. And Yeats actually wrote a poem in memory of Eva Gorebooth and Kon Markovich. Right. Basically he described the sisters as two girls in silk kimono, both beautiful, one gazelle, the gazelle being Eva, whom Yeats described as having gazelle like beauty. Right. Now Yeats. Yeats may have been a great poet, but he was a shitty person. Like the. What he did to Mod. You know what, he's just terrible. He's. We will cover him another time because I'm not going to waste time during Women's History Month to talk about a terrible man. In the 1870s, when the Baronet was out exploring the Arctic, Lady Georgina, his wife Constance's mother, set up a school of needlework for women at Lissadel. The women were trained in crochet embroidery, darn thread works, darning, and the sale of their wares. So basically, what they did allowed them to earn a wage of 18 shillings per week. So basically this was a way of ensuring employment, like a skill for these women. So Eva was initially the more political of the two sisters being involved in the suffrage movement. And initially, Constance wasn't really feeling it, but it did catch on later. See, she just wanted to be a painter, an artist. And much to her family's dismay, she left for England to study at the Slade School of Art in London. So she stayed at the Alexandra House for art pupils in Kensington Gore. It was here, like many people who move away from home and get an education, she got a wider view of the world and got interested in politics. And so she joined the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, the nuwss. After London, she moved to Paris and enrolled at the prestigious Academie Julian, one of the few places at the time which. Where women could actually train seriously as artists. Because, of course, the French are like, you're on du paint. You can paint. Ave Nap. Ave cigarette, maybe. So it's in Paris where things, you know, her life evolves a wee bit. She meets her future husband, Kashmir Markovich, an artist from a wealthy Polish landowning family in Ukraine. Although at this point, it was under the rule of the Russian Empire. Fucking empires, man. He was an artist. He was charming. He was a count. Now, whether he was a legitimate count is, you know, a matter of debate. But honestly, the title stuck, as did his legally binding marriage to someone else. Oh, yeah, he had a whole wife. I mean, they were separated and they had one child, a son, Stanislaus. Now they were separated. And his, you know, first wife, she died in 1899. Now he ends up winning Constance's favor by besting two men in a duel. Like a bang, bang duel. Like 10 paces and a gun, like, right. So these men had, like, either offended or insulted her. And he was just like, not today, sir. And so this widower gained her respect, and so Constant Gorbuth became Countess Markovich. It just sounds. It just rolls off the tongue, like, actually, I didn't know her first name was Constance, like, for years, because I only ever knew her as Countess Markovich. Like, that was how she was in all of my, like, textbooks growing up in school. So the Markovich is married in London on 29th September, 1900. And so they stayed in Lysidel for a while. So on their honeymoon, they actually brought his son Stanislas. So it's in La Sedelle where Constan gives birth to their child. And my goodness, I hope she got her hands on some like chloroform or ether or something, because turn of the century births, not the safest. So she gave birth to their daughter Maeve in November 1901. Like she was like one and done. That's enough now. So they decided to move to Dublin two years later and they move into this like, well, just up and coming area and they're moving around in artistic and literary circles. And Constance gained a reputation as a landscape painter in 1905, along with artists like they were integral in founding the United Artist Club, which was an attempt to bring together like all those in Dublin who were sort of just of the arts, artistic, literary, you know, all that stuff together. And this group included leading figures of like the Gaelic League, which fun fact, was founded by future first president of Ireland Douglas Hyde. So the Gaelic League initially was focused on preserving like primarily the Irish language, traditional Irish culture, songs, poetry, storytelling, music, dancing, crafts, sports, so on and so forth. Now they ended up being a bit more than just cultural protection and preservation. See, this is the kind of group that attracted revolutionaries, right? Because around this time Ireland was simmering politically and nationalism was rising. And Constance got involved with organisations like Sinn Fein and Enna, Jenna Kieran and nationalist women groups founded by Motgon, sorry, like Daughters of Ireland, basically. So I realized I'm like, here's some Irish and my accent, which sounds weird, my voice still hasn't fully come back, so I'm really sorry. So this was founded by Maude gone. And again, we're going to be covering her at some point anyway. So here's the thing. So she's like super riled up like Markovich. She like really wants to like be involved in, in the geneheron. And so she comes directly to their first meeting from a function at Dublin Castle. So Dublin Castle was the very seat of British rule in Ireland. So Cliff Notes version, Ireland was Britain's first colony. Anyway, so she arrives at this meeting like she's come straight from this big fancy event. She's in a satin ballgown and a diamond tiara. Naturally, the members weren't entirely enamored with, you know, this hoity toity lady swanning in, in her gown and jewels, like. So she was a countess. She was known as a countess and her title made people like gush and grovel to her. But like this was different. This was a different response than she was used to. And it only made her More eager to join. Now you all know how much I hate Winston Churchill. Like I despise the man. Like bad people can do good things every now and again. Broken clock can still be right twice a day, right? Fucking hate the man. Piece of shit. But this woman, oh my God. Like she, she travels to England and she protests so much that she prevents him from winning a Manchester by election. I love that for her.
- [18:17]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching your insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy. Just drop in some details about yourself and see if you're eligible to save money. When you bundle your home and auto policies, the process only takes minutes and it could mean hundreds more in your pocket. Visit progressive.com after this episode to see if you could save Progressive Casualty Insurance company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states.
- [18:44]
Grow Therapy Announcer
History shows women keep showing up for everyone every day. But who's showing up for you? Grow Therapy helps you put your mental health first with therapy that's covered by insurance and built to support you. Whether it's your first time in therapy or your 50th. Grow makes it easier to find a therapist who fits you, not the other way around. You can search by what matters like insurance, specialty, identity or availability and get started in as little as two days. There are no subscriptions, no long term commitments. You just pay per session. Grow helps you find therapy on your time. Whatever challenges you're facing. Grow Therapy is here to help. Grow accepts over 100 insurance plans, including Medicaid in some states. Sessions average about $21 with insurance and some pay as little as $0 depending on their plan. Visit growththerapy.com acast to get started. That's growtherapy.com acast growtherapy.com acast availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan.
- [19:59]
Katie Charlwood
So Constance Markovich. She helps found Nafina Heron, a nationalist youth organization. Basically, it's like a paramilitary Boy Scouts. So she almost gets ousted, like this is 1909, by the way. And they, they almost like kick her out because she's a woman and women should not be near physical force. But basically she brings this one dude from Belfast who also has his own little paramilitary Boy Scouts, right? And he's like, no, no, no, she's cool. Like, and she, then she's on the committee. Like, she's like, this dude's here backing me up. So yeah, she's on the committee for, you know, ultra extreme Boy Scouts. And yes, she helped train teenage boys in military drills. Countess behavior, apparently. So she was jailed for the first time in 1911 for speaking at an Irish Republican Brotherhood demonstration. So the irb. So there's. You're going to get a lot of these. You've got the Irish Republican Brotherhood, you've got the Irish Republican army, you've got the Irish Civilian Army. There's, there's a lot, but there's a lot of forces working together. It wasn't one like homogenous group that sort of was involved in, you know, the rebellion. So she is jailed for speaking at an Irish Republican Brotherhood demonstration. So there's like 30,000 people there. And she was there to protest against King George V's visit to Ireland. So she's handing out leaflets, she's like erecting banners emblazoned with Dear land, thou art not conquered yet. And so her and a bunch of other people threw stones at pictures, pictures of the King and Queen. And so, like, and she's trying to burn this massive British flag taken from lens to house, right? She's trying to just put this thing in flames. Eventually she succeeds, but then, right, someone else is actually imprisoned for one month for the incident. Like, she's arrested anyway, right? And this other person, they end up being arrested and imprisoned, even though she's testifying, saying that she was the one responsible for this, right? Like she had done that. Then came the Dublin lockout of 1913. Now, this was a huge labour dispute between workers and employers in Dublin. So this leads Constance to join the Irish Citizen Army, a volunteer force formed in response to the lockout of 1913 to defend the demonstrating workers from the police. Mm. What? History repeating. What? So the ICA was headed by Scottish born socialist and Irish hero James Connolly. You've got workers striking, so families are starving, you know, because there's no, there's no aid at this point. And Constance Markovich, aristocrat, right, initially recruited volunteers from the ica, right, to peel potatoes in the basement of Liberty hall, while she and other workers, right, they worked on getting food to the people who needed it. Now with Enna Jenna Hearin, she opened soup kitchens to feed the children of striking workers. I keep saying, hearing, right, it's heron, right? I don't know why my voice is changing how I speak Irish, right? So she basically opens a soup kitchen to feed the children of striking workers. Yeah, she's like, you know what's not great? Mass death of children. That's not a cool thing to do. So in order to run the soup kitchen, she has to sell her own Jewelry to cover the costs, right? So she becomes, like, really prominent. People are really aware of who she is. And this magazine interviews her. And because she's this, you know, known figure, she's a countess, right? She is asked for fashion advice, and she says, dress suitably in short skirts and strong boots. Leave your jewels in the bank and buy a revolver. This was the same year that Count Kashmir Markovic moved back to Ukraine. And actually he never returned to live in Ireland. However, husband and wife did correspond regularly. They wrote letters to one another, as was the custom, but this shows that their relationship was amicable at least. So he never returned to love, but he did return and was by her side when she did pass away. So now we arrive in 1916, the Easter Rising. So basically it's called the Easter Rising because it happened over Easter, right? So this was an armed rebellion against British rule in Ireland as a. Speaking of actually colonial revolts. So there was. There's this thing where I'll talk about something being a rebellion, and somebody had mentioned to me about how rebellions in, say, India, for example, against the British, that they were known as revolts. Oh, no, they weren't rebellions. They were revolts. And I'm like, oh, okay, okay, I get it. I get it. I get like they're trying to take ownership and flip. You know, in Ireland, they were like, no, we rebelled. We rebelled against you, and you deserved it. It's interesting how the two cultures, like, they are still claiming ownership and claiming, you know, righteousness and justice in both ways, but they're both done in very different ways. So, yeah, Easter Rising, armed rebellion. And Constance Markovich was not about to just sit back and watch it happen. She wasn't about to be sitting there darning. I mean, she did, but she didn't. That's not here. Anyway, she says, fuck this for a game of soldiers and then goes to fight some British soldiers. Like, she's in the Irish civilian army. She's fighting for Ireland. Like, actually fighting, like, hand to hand combat. So she fought in St. Stephen's Green, where on the morning, according to a diary entry. So a contemporary source at the time, right, allegedly she shot a member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police, Constable Lehif. Now, there's also a suggestion that she may be in at City hall when he was shot, but this is attributed to her. Now, you'll see reports of her being second in command. She was not. She did oversee construction of barricades, and she did wound a British sniper. She also acted as a nurse and was again, allegedly Seen sewing a rebel flag at one point, right? I mean, this is over six days, so keeping yourself busy, I understand. So the Stevens Green Garrison held out for six days, right? Because, you know, this rebellion, it lasted six days. So this ended when the British brought them Padrick Pierce's surrendering order. Podrick Padrick Pierce's surrendering order. It's really funny because I never said his name in English, like. And I saw like, Patrick. Who's Patrick Pierce? I was like, oh, it's Patrick Pierce. So when she was taken by the British, she handed over her gun to them, right? So she just hands it and she says, I'm ready, like. She's like, shoot me, bitches. I'm ready for it. Right? The rebels were taken to Dublin Castle and then to Kilmainham Jail. So she was the Only one of 70 prisoners, right, who was put in solitary confinement. Like, they wanted to make sure she suffered. At her court martial on 4 May 1916, Markovich pleaded not guilty to taking part in an armed rebellion for the purpose of assisting the enemy. However, she did plead guilty to having attempted to cause disaffection among the civil population of His Majesty. She told the court that she was fighting for Ireland's freedom. The Rising was crushed after six days. Many of the leaders were executed, and Markovich, she was one of them. She was. I mean, she was arrested and she was sentenced to death, right? Her death warrant was signed, right? So they. They started executing people and they did it over a series of days. Now, I've spoken about this before. So. The 1916 Easter Rising was the largest rebellion against British rule in Ireland since 1798. And this was mainly in Dublin, but pockets had occurred across the country as well. On Monday, April 24, 1200 people joined the garrison in Stephen's Green, including Irish Volunteers, Irish Citizen army and the Cumannaman. By Saturday the 29th, the rebels surrendered. In order to protect Irish citizens From more bloodshed, 14 rebels, including the seven signatories of the Proclamation of the Republic, were executed between May 2nd and 12th. But one man was the straw that broke the camel's back and garnered national sympathy for the cause. James Connolly was held in a room in Dublin Castle, which was basically a triage room from the First World War. Like the fatal injuries that James Connolly sustained in the Rising gave him only days to live. On May 12, he was brought to Kilmainham Jail by ambulance. He was brought out on a stretcher and then tied to a chair because he could not sit or stand unaided. He was Bound to the chair. They removed his glasses from his face, and then a firing squad executed him. Like, his doctor said that he had days to live. Like, he was. He was on the verge of death. And they're just like, no, no, we have to execute him. He can't just die of his wounds, which, like, politically not the smartest move. They're like, we need to crush the rebels. But what they did was just turn public opinion against sort of British colonial power and sort of give more sympathy to the rebellion, and it gained more public support because this is a nation who shot and they executed a dying man, Right? They did not give him a dignified death. He was already dying. They had to prop him up to execute him. Right? The doctors were even like, you shouldn't be moving him. So, like, that was already. Already an issue. Like, they had been, like, slowly executing these people, trying to thinking it was going to be like, we'll just show this in the press. I'll just, like, reading them for filth. They're like, you just did this. Like, this is not honorable, right? Because, like, honor used to be a big deal. Now we don't have shame. Shame isn't a thing anymore. But honor used to be, like, a huge deal. But, yeah. So Markovich, she's arrested. She's sentenced to death, but this sentence was commuted to life imprisonment because of everything else that was already going on. They couldn't also now shoot a woman, right? So officially, they say it's because she's a woman on the basis of sex. And, like, she responds to this by telling them, I wish your lot had the decency to shoot me. Okay? I'm sorry, but icon. Okay, okay. So she's transferred to Mount Joy Prison. So she goes from Kilmainham Jail where the executions are happening, right? And they take her to Mount Joy. Then she goes to Hallway Prison, and then she goes to Aylesbury Prison in England in July 1916. Now, she was released from prison after a year, 1917, along with others involved in the Rising. Like, basically, they're like, we need to get them out of Ireland because we can't have them there, because that's just gonna. You know, people are gonna try and break them out. It's gonna be a whole thing, and they think they can control it if it's over. Over just across the Irish Sea. So, right, as I said, you know, London granted a general, like, amnesty for those who had participated in the Rising because, you know, the court of public opinion had swayed since they executed a man in a wheelchair. Who was days away from death. So around that time, Countess Markovich. Yeah, so like around this time she converted to Catholicism. Right. So that was something that she did because she was, she was Protestant. Like, like a lot, if not all of the Anglo Irish ruling class were. So in 1918, something remarkable happened. Right, so Constance Markovich was elected to the British Parliament as a member of Sinn Fein in the general election, right? So she beat opponent William Field with 66% of the vote as one of the 73 Sinn Fein MPs, so members of Parliament. This made her the very first woman ever elected to the House of Commons. However, she refused to take her seat because Sinn Fein MPs, like, basically they had absentia. So they had their own parliament in Dublin. Dale Aaron. Right, so she actually gets elected. So the 1918 election happens like earlier. So like 418, it's in 17. Right. So she's elected and as her name is read out, they're like, oh, she's held in a prison by an enemy. Like that's the big announcement of, of that. And then obviously following that, she is really.
- [34:05]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Shifting a little money here, a little there and hoping it all works out well? With the name your price tool from Progressive, you can be a better budgeter and potentially lower your insurance bill too. You tell Progressive what you want to pay for car insurance and they'll help you find options within your budget. Try it today@progressive.com, progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Price and coverage match, limited by state law, not available in all states.
- [34:34]
Grow Therapy Announcer
History shows women keep showing up for everyone every day. But who's showing up for you? Grow Therapy helps you put your mental health first with therapy that's covered by insurance and built to support you, whether it's your first time in therapy or your 50th. Grow makes it easier to find a therapist who fits you, not the other way around. You can search by what matters like insurance, specialty, identity or availability and get started in as little as two days. There are no subscriptions, no long term commitments. You just pay per session. Grow helps you find therapy on your time. Whatever challenges you're facing. Grow Therapy is here to help. Grow accepts over 100 insurance plans, including Medicaid in some states. Sessions average about $21 with insurance and some pay as little as $0 depending on their plan. Visit growththerapy.com acast to get started. That's growththerapy.com acast growtherapy.com acast availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan.
- [35:55]
Katie Charlwood
So she was re elected to the second doll in the elections of 1921. Right. So in 1919, Countess Constance Markiewicz became Minister for Labour in the revolutionary Irish government. Which means she became one of the first female cabinet members in the world. Not just Ireland, the world. Okay, let that sink in for a second. Constance Markovich was the first female cabinet minister, like in Ireland, and at the same time, only the second female government minister in Europe. Like, that being said, I don't think Ireland had another female cabinet minister until 1979. But we have had a few female presidents. Hop hop. Mary McAleese. Right? Mary McAleese. Mary Robinson, Catherine Connolly. Okay. Like, we. We have some good UN's, right? So things take a turn in 1922. So Ireland gains its independence. Sort of 26 plus 6 equals 1. Okay, so when Ireland was partitioned, right, the Anglo Irish Treaty, well, it had a partition where the UK would keep some of Ireland for itself. Conveniently one of the first places that planted Ulster. Ulster plantations. Where, like the first real successful plantations that happened. There were other ones down in, like, Leishinopoly by Queen Mary, but it wasn't great. Okay. Yeah. So, I mean, it wasn't all Falstaff. They didn't get Donegal, Cavan or Monaghan, Right. But it did get the six counties, so. Which is often referred to as the north of Ireland. And it has been a political point of contention ever since. Now, up here, you had ports and trade in the area. Shipbuilding, another industry, linen was big there. And, well, Britain wanted to keep what they felt was financially beneficial for it. They basically wanted to screw Ireland over, right? Because they're like, oh, here's where a lot of, you know, industry and textile is. We're gonna like, keep that. Thanks. Now here's the thing. Michael Collins was sent there. He was sent to basically make the agreements on the treaty because the Irish government knew this was the best deal they were going to get, right? And they basically used him as the fall guy, right? He was the party in this situation. So the Irish Civil War happens, right? You have the pro treaty and the Iron T treaty sides, right? So you have the Irish Civil War is unlike a lot of civil wars. This was like, very intimate, right? So it's not town against town. This is neighbor against neighbor. This is brother against brother, right? That's the kind of war this was. So the Countess, she ends up leaving government along with another fucking arsehole, Eamon de Valera, the man who was super supportive of the Magdalene Laundries. I have my issues with that piece of shit as well. Do I believe you orchestrated the assassination of Michael Collins? I don't think he did because assassinating a political leader is a really bad look, you know, that's not going to gain you support. So I don't think he did it. And also, jeez, don't know what I mean. The Michael Collins movie, it's. Oh, it's. I mean I'm no fan of Der, but I don't think he organized an assassination. Right. The evidence just doesn't support it anyway. Constance Markovich actively worked for the republican cause in the Irish Civil War, including directing the citizen army in the occupation of like Morin's house in Dublin, right? So in the Battle of Dublin she helped lead the anti treaty forces of the IRA's Dublin brigade, right. So the Irish Republican army members of the Cumann Amman assisted the anti treaty forces and carried dispatches between the occupied Four Courts buildings and the Dublin Brigade headquarters. So basically Cummin Amman is a women's, it's just a women's party and like they were a major, major part of, you know, the Irish rebellion and in the Civil War. Like they're passaging. Passaging. They are passing messages to one another. Like they are like very, very integral to this, right? So like she wasn't elected in the 22 general election, but she did return for, in 23 for the Dublin south constituency. Like other Republican candidates, she did not take her doll seat because you know, Anna, the country is not doing great basically. She was arrested again in November 1923. In prison she goes on a hunger strike and within a month she is released. So she ends up leaving Sinn Fein and joins Fianna Fall on its foundation in 1926, chairing the inaugural meeting of the new party in the La Scala Theatre, she was re elected to the fifth doll as a candidate for Fianna Fall in 1927, which was pledged to take its seats in Dal Erin if the requirement to take the oath of allegiance was removed. Now it does get removed, but not until like 1927. So over the years Countess Markovich had given away all of her money. Like she was determined to live amongst like the lowest rungs of society, the impoverished, the needy, right? She gave away her fancy clothes, her expensive jewelry, all of it, right? At one point she's staying in just like a house for the poor, right? And this was where she wanted to be. She wanted to be amongst the people. Because the majority of people in Ireland, we're Not wealthy. There was this joke, right, that growing up in Ireland, like, there was no, like, rich people. Like, there wasn't, like, huge societal divides because there was everybody. Everybody was the same. And then there was that one family who had a big house, right? That's it, right? All over Ireland. That is how. That is how our communities worked. Everybody's the same. One family with a big house, okay? And they would own a local business, like a pub or a garage. Like, it would be one of those, right? So the dad would have, like, a business, and then the mom would be involved in, like, all the social groups. So she would run, like, choirs and stuff, and, like, town meetings. Like, that's just. That was culture, society in the 90s. Um, and it was probably like, that 80s, 70s, things like that. It didn't. It looked that Amish, like, progress happens. It just happens slowly. So in 1927, like, she's in pain. She's suffering from appendicitis, and she has surgery. She has surgery in a time before antibiotics are readily available. She had two surgeries, actually. So she has two surgeries for appendicitis, and there were complications. Now, my opinion is always sepsis. I'm convinced everything is sepsis because, like, germ theory, man, it wasn't. It was there, but it wasn't, you know, I mean, it was, but it. Listen, okay, Hygiene and medicine and the 1920s, post rebellion, post Civil War. Not the easiest. Not the easiest. Now, of course, Countess Constance Markovich, because of the complications, she died on the 5th of July, 1927 in a public ward in Dublin. She dies at the age of 59 with Kashmir and Stanislav Markiewicz by her side. Her daughter Maeve wasn't there. Okay, here's the thing we need to talk about, right? So Maeve and her, like, being of the class that she was when you had a child, like, you had them, and then they were raised by, like, nannies and governesses because it's, you know, at that point, it's still Victorian, you know, Europe. And so that would. How Maeve would have been raised. And so I don't think that Constance Markovich was the most maternal of people. And I think after having one child, she realized that. And that's why she was like, this is fine. And, I don't know, maybe even for them, it was just a matter of doing that in order to, like, legally ensure their marriage. Oh, look, we've had one kid. Look, we have issue. Definitely legal marriage. Solid done. Right. And that would be that. And he already had an heir anyway, cuz he had Stanislas, so they didn't need an heir necessarily. So when Maeve and Constance meet each other, like when Maeve's an adult, like they're strangers, right? There's not a lot of like connection there. And I get it. Like, strangely enough, this is one of like the nicer stories I have for, for Women's History Month. Although I do have a really fun palette cleanser coming at the end of the month for everybody, just so you know. But anyway, she dies on the 5th of July, 1927, public ward in the Dublin Hospital, right? She's in the rotunda at the age of 59 with Kashmir and Stanislav Markovich, Eamon de Valera and her dear friend Hannah Sheehy Skeffington by her sight. The Free State government refused to provide this revolutionary woman a state funeral. So instead she had her wake at the Rotunda hospital and then was brought to Glasnevin cemetery where she was laid to rest. So basically the street, streets, I should say lined, they are aligned with people, you know, trying to pay her respects. So Irish wake. Actually, no, I'll do this fast. So people are trying to pay their respects. It takes four hours. It takes four hours from like for this funeral procession to get from the rotunda to get to Glasnevin cemetery, just because of the amount of people that wanted to show their respect to this woman. So wakes an Irish wake. So one thing, an Irish wake is interesting because it's a celebration of life as opposed to the sadness of death. And typically in an Irish wake, it happens in the home of the person who died, right? So when it comes to an Irish wake, what's supposed to happen is the body is, you know, cleaned, put together, dressed, brought back to the home and typically laid out on the kitchen table, right? So be laid out on the kitchen table. So somewhere else in the kitchen there's a pile of sandwiches, right? That's what you do, you have a pile of sandwiches. Like you, you get a good feeder awake. And that's just how things go now. That's why in Ireland it's a thing of like, you don't put shoes on a table. Like, you're not supposed to put shoes on a table because the only time shoes should be on a table is if someone is being waked, right? So, and it's very much a personal thing. So like during lockdown, like that was a massive thing because so many people died and we could not have wakes up. And so it became like people were secretly Having wakes. It became, like, an issue. Like, most of the time, it was overlooked. Unless, again, they had really good sandwiches. And so the Guardian would show up to have a sandwich or two. But, like, this would cause, like, problems. But yes. So ends the story of Countess Constance Markovich, revolutionary leader, reader leader, leader. God, my voice isn't back. I'm so sorry. And with that, another woman, another amazing woman, the first woman ever elected to the British Parliament. Now, I bring this up because quite a lot of times someone will mention another woman who got elected and the first one to take her seat, right? And they'll be like, oh, so. And so was the falsted. I'm like, I think you'll find it was Constance Markovich. Right? And people don't know how to take it when I say it because I'm an Irish person with a Scottish accent. And so this leads to a lot of issues when English people hear me and they're like, wait, what? Why do you care? And I'm like, bitch, I'm a historian. I fcking care. But, yes, it is what it is. And, like, great. Not the most maternal people, but we shouldn't expect all women to be maternal. And she was expected to be a mother, but she wanted to be a painter. She wanted to be an artist. And then she saw the world and went, oh, no, we need to do something about this. And that's why, like, the world is on fire. And I actively want to keep doing good, so. Oh, my voice is so harsh today. I'm so sorry. But, yeah, this is. This is. I just want to keep telling history. The good, the bad, the stuff we have to learn from. I want to keep going. I don't want to stop. I want to keep going. And I want to try and educate. And I know that's going to get me hate and annoying, people being arseholes, because that's just how it is. And I know I'm an. I know I am. Okay, okay. But I'm gonna give you a really fun palette cleanser at the end of the month. I promise you I have a special treat because things are gonna get worse from here. Okay? They're gonna get worse from here, and then they're gonna get better. But they're gonna get worse. Okay? I have horrible, horrible information for you, and I'm not going to stop. Um, because I think it's important that. And as much as I want to celebrate people in Women's History Month, like, the amount of women I know that were talking about International Women's Day and Just felt so. Just disheartened and despondent and just up and over. Like it feels difficult to celebrate when we're consistently being crushed and the world is teetering on the edge of destruction. And it's just one of those things. It's one of those things. And so what I want to do is educate and I want to keep doing it. And I hope you will share this and I hope you will keep sharing my stuff and commenting, watching, listening, follow me on the socials, engaging and stuff, because I'm working really hard to keep this going even with everything's going on. And I got some personal stuff happening which is causing much stress right now. And. Yeah, yeah. But anyway, it's recommendation time for reading. Okay. I know that I recommended Bold, Brilliant and Bad before by Dervlog Roderick, but I'm gonna do it again. I'm gonna do it again. It's a really good book. I think you should read it for listening. You know what? Sabre Hester Ross has a new podcast called this Is My Baby, and it's about celebrating the milestones that aren't children. And I'm like, yeah, as a parent, I'm like, yeah, celebrate other stuff. And it's really good. So you should go watch or listen to Sarah Hester Ross's podcast, this Is My Baby. So. So go do that for watching, though. Ooh, for watching Derry Girls. No, I don't have anything else. Dairy Girls. Go watch Derry Girls. Because I haven't watched how to get to Heaven from Belfast yet. But I think Derry Girls is just something that you should watch. Then you should look up the troubles, and then you should watch again. And it will somehow make the jokes hit harder and it will give you a better understanding of the world. But with that, I'm gonna say bye. Adios. Au revoir. Au revoir, my friends. Bye.
- [52:48]
Grow Therapy Announcer
Bye.
- [52:51]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
With endless scroll algorithms and AI flooding feeds, podcasting stands out. They're sought, not served. Audiences actively choose to hear trusted voices on topics they care about. In fact, 72% of listeners say podcasts shape cultural conversations. For marketers, that means podcasts shift brand perception like no other channel. Acast's podcast Pulse2025 report has the proof. Get all the insights@podcastpulse2025.com.