From every county in Ireland Bold, Brilliant & Bad draws together the stories of over 120 amazing Irish women. Marian Broderick is back to explore the histories of remarkable Irish Women in history. From creative craftswomen to singing sensations, poets to sporting champions. From Lilian Bland to Maeve Binchy and from Anne O'Brien to Professor Sheila Tinney, these women paved the way for the future and made massive changes in their various fields.
Meet the women from history who went against the grain and challenged the expectations of the world. There were and are a force to be reckoned with.
DID YOU KNOWS page 8
INTRODUCTION 11
WORLD FIRSTS … 13
Lizzie Le Blond 15
Lilian Bland 20
Kay McNulty 24
... AND IRISH FIRSTS 29
Dr Emily Winifred Dickson 30
Beatrice Hill-Lowe 35
Dame Iris Murdoch 39
SPORTING CHAMPIONS 44
Lena Rice 45
Kay Mills 49
Philomena Garvey 52
Anne O’Brien 56
THE LIFE SCIENTIFIC 60
The Honourable Mary Ward 61
Agnes Mary Clerke 64
Dr Dorothy Stopford Price 67
Professor Sheila Tinney 72
WORKING-CLASS HEROINES 76
Winifred Carney 77
Rosie Hackett 82
Margaret Skinnider 86
VOTES! 92
Anna Haslam 93
Eva Gore-Booth 97
Gretta Cousins 102
WOMEN OF FAITH 109
Saint Ita 110
Sister Anthony O’Connell 114
Mother Kevin Kearney 119
Sister Sarah Clarke 124
ACROSS THE SEA 130
Nellie Cashman 131
Amy Carmichael 136
Annie Moore 140
Carmel Snow 144
THE WRONG SIDE OF THE LAW 150
Darkey Kelly 151
Catherine Flanagan and Margaret Higgins 155
Ellen Kelly 160
Josephine ‘Chicago Joe’ Hensley 166
Lizzie Halliday 170
‘Typhoid Mary’ Mallon 174
May Churchill Sharpe 177
POETRY AND PROSE 183
Líadain 184
Laetitia Pilkington 188
Máire Bhuí Ní Laoghaire 195
Máire MacNeill 199
Maeve Binchy 205
ARTS AND CRAFTSWOMEN 210
Eileen Gray 211
Evie Hone 216
Sybil Connolly 220
SING THE OLD SONG 224
Catherine Hayes 225
Margaret Burke Sheridan 230
Maureen O’Hara 235
Kitty Linnane 239
UNHEARD VOICES 243
Ellen Hanley, The Colleen Bawn 244
Elizabeth O’Farrell 250
Bridget Hitler 254
Margaret Hassan 259
GAELIC BLUEBLOODS 263
Devorgilla 264
Aoife 269
Margaret of the Hospitalities 273
Nuala O’Donnell 276
GLOSSARY AND SOURCES 286
WOMEN BY COUNTY 295
INDEX OF WOMEN 299
PICTURE CREDITS 303
