Biography of Skeffington who was advocate for women's suffrage and outspoken feminist and peace activist Nationalist, pacifist, socialist, and above all feminist, Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington was one of the most significant Irishwomen of the first half of the twentieth century. Her career spanned nearly five decades--decades marked by political upheaval, repression, and violence. Yet, throughout these years she steadfastly held firm to her beliefs. She spoke and wrote in support of a free, independent, and unified Ireland built on James Connolly's socialist model; she argued for the end of militarism everywhere and she fought tirelessly for women's rights in Ireland and abroad. She represented the emergence of women as political and social forces in Ireland. As it unfolds for the first time in this biography, her life is the story of the new Irishwoman--intelligent, assertive, educated, and politically committed--and the story of her struggles to attain fundamental human rights in a society that was particularly resistant to granting them. "From Syracuse's Irish Studies series comes this excellent biography of an exceptional, determined woman. Sheehy-Skeffington (18771946) disavowed her church--no light matter in the Ireland of her time--was considered a leftist, waged unceasing battles for women's rights and for peaceful political solutions to her country's problems, and was "assertive" long before it was fashionable. Ideally matched with Francis Skeffington (who attached her name to his own when they were married), she was a major figure in the Irish scene during the first half of the 20th century. After the murder of Francis at the behest of a British officer, Hanna continued to serve the cause of freedom as editor, author and lecturer popular on the American circuit as well as at home. --Publishers Weekly
Leah Levenson was an independent scholar. She is the author of With Wooden Sword: A Portrait of Francis Sheehy-Skeffington, Militant Pacifist and The Four Seasons of Mary Lavin. Jerry H. Natterstad is the author of Francis Stuart and T. S. Eliot: A Study of Religion in His Early Poetry.
A beautifully produced book, which is lucidly written and generously illustrated. . . . With this biography, Sheehy-Skeffington is assured of her rightful claim to posterity.-- "Irish Literary Supplement" A remarkable woman and a figure of considerable importance in the cause of Irish Nationalism.-- "New York Times Book Review" A revelatory resurrection. . . . An excellent biography of an exceptional, determined woman. Sheehy-Skeffington (1877-1946) disavowed her church--no light matter in the Ireland of her time--was considered a leftist, waged unceasing battles for women's rights and for peaceful political solutions to her country.-- "Publishers Weekly" A well-written, carefully documented study. . . . Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington was a major figure in Ireland during a turbulent period, and this study helps clarify our picture of her and place her feminism within the context of other Irish reform efforts.-- "American Historical Review" The authors have resurrected a person of great significance and stamina, whose contributions to the destiny of women in her time, and to Irish politics as a whole, surely cannot be overstated.-- "SIGNS: Journal of Women in Culture and Society"
