1. The Road To The Vote Pioneers Of Parliamentary Politics

2. Before 1918 Women Could Not Vote In General Elections
The Representation of the People Act of 1918 granted the vote to women over the age of 30
They had to own property also
The same Act gave the vote to all men over the age of 21.
Possible Activity: Say that the boys will get an extra 10 minutes at lunch time but not the girls/ students on the left side will get an extra 10 minutes at lunch time but not the others. Ask the students is this fair: then lead into the discussion around women not being able to vote up to 1918

3. Standing For Election
In 1918 Parliament also passed the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act which allowed women to become MPs for the first time
Why do you think this was so important?

4. Countess Markievicz

5. Countess de Markievicz was one of the two women who stood in the general election of 1918
First woman elected to the British House of Commons.
She never took her seat.
Joined Dáil Éireann, becoming the first female TD and the first female Minister in western Europe.

6. Winifred Carney

7. Winifred Carney was one of the two women who stood in the 1918 general election.
Worked to improve conditions for girls and women working in the linen mills of Belfast
She was a close friend and secretary to James Connolly. She was in the GPO during Easter 1916 and was interned after the Rising.
She stood in the 1918 election for Sinn Féin but was not elected.

8. Dr Ada English

9. Dr. Ada English was a Member of the second Dáil and one of the first female doctors in Ireland.
She used new approaches to help patients with mental health issues (gardening, trips to the cinema)
Campaigned for the use of Irish manufactured goods in Irish institutions.

10. Hanna Sheehy Skeffington

11. Hanna Sheehy Skeffington was one of the co-founders of the Irish Women's Franchise League.
Imprisoned and dismissed from her teaching job as a result of her militant campaigning for the vote.
She stood unsuccessfully in the 1943 general election

12. Dr Kathleen Lynn

13. Dr. Kathleen Lynn was elected to the fourth Dáil in 1923, but did not take her seat.
She was one of the first women to obtain a medical degree from the Royal University of Ireland and founded a children's hospital.
She joined the suffrage movement and was a medical attendant from 1912.
During the 1916 Rising she was chief medical officer of the Irish Citizen Army.

14. Mary MacSwiney

15. Mary MacSwiney was a Dáil Member from the second Dáil in 1921 to 1927.
Member of the Munster Women's Franchise League, but in 1914 she resigned and founded a branch of Cumann na mBan.
She was arrested after the 1916 Rising and lost her job as a teacher, but went on to establish her own school.

16. Jennie Wyse Power

17. Jennie Wyse Power was a Member of the first Seanad, from 1922 until it was abolished in 1936.
She had been active in politics since 1881
Her restaurant on Henry Street became a meeting place for Republican leaders and the 1916 Proclamation was signed there.
As a Senator, she spoke against a series of laws which discriminated against women.

18. Margaret Cousins

19. Margaret Cousins was one of the co-founders of the Irish Women's Franchise League.
In 1913 she was jailed in Tullamore prison for breaking windows.
After moving to India, she continued to campaign for women's rights and became the first female magistrate in India.