Seamus Courtney Ógra Shinn Féin
Cork Institute of Technology
Margaret Buckley (or Bean Uí Bhuachalla as she was widely known) was born in Cork in 1885 joining Inghinidhe na hÉireann in 1901 and in 1911 becoming a founding member of the Cork Sluagh of Na Fianna Éireann.
She later became an active member of both Sinn Féin and Cumann na mBan and following the 1916 Rising was imprisoned in Mountjoy jail. Following her release in 1917 she played a major part in the reorganisation of Sinn Féin helping to turn it into the major electoral force which won 73 seats in the 1918 general election.
She later became an organiser of the Irish Women’s Workers Union (IWWU) and in June 1920 became a judge in the republican courts being appointed by Minister for Home Affairs Austin Stack - later that year she was once again imprisoned in Mountjoy jail along with Mary Mac Swiney and others.
In 1923 she was once again interned in Mountjoy, this time by the Free Staters, where she partook in a mass hunger-strike and was selected as O/C of the republican prisoners in the jail.
From 1934 until 1937 she served as Vice-President of Sinn Féin until she was elected President in 1938; she served in this role until 1950 when she resumed her role as Vice-President, serving until her death in 1962. She is buried in St.Finbarr’s cemetery, Cork.
Margaret Buckley was a groundbreaking woman in Irish politics; she became the first and so far only female President of Sinn Féin and the first woman leader of any political party in Ireland. She was a woman who gave her life to the republican struggle and is a true inspiration to us all.
In 1923 she was once again interned in Mountjoy, this time by the Free Staters, where she partook in a mass hunger-strike and was selected as O/C of the republican prisoners in the jail.
From 1934 until 1937 she served as Vice-President of Sinn Féin until she was elected President in 1938; she served in this role until 1950 when she resumed her role as Vice-President, serving until her death in 1962. She is buried in St.Finbarr’s cemetery, Cork.
Margaret Buckley was a groundbreaking woman in Irish politics; she became the first and so far only female President of Sinn Féin and the first woman leader of any political party in Ireland. She was a woman who gave her life to the republican struggle and is a true inspiration to us all.
Let us salute a valiant Irishwoman!
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