Easter Widows - Softcover

Sinead McCoole

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1781620237 ISBN 13: 9781781620236

Publisher: Doubleday Ireland, 2015

Synopsis

McCoole, Sinead. Easter Widows - Seven Irish Women who lived in the shadow of the 1916 Rising. Dublin, Doubleday Ireland, 2015. 24 cm. xvii, 444 pages. With illustrations (black and white, and colour). Softcover. Excellent condition with only minor signs of external wear. One week in May 1916, seven Irish women became widows. When they had married their husbands they had embarked on very different lives. They married men of the establishment; one married a lecturer, two others married soldiers, another a civil servant. These women all knew each other and their lives became intertwined. For the seven women whose stories are told in Easter Widows, their husbands’ interest in Irish culture, citizenship and rights became a fight for independence which at Easter 1916 took the form of military action against the British. These men were among the leaders who formed a provisional government of the Irish Republic and issued a proclamation of Irish Independence. But the Rising was defeated, and the leaders were arrested and hastily executed. Some of the widows broke under the strain of their experiences and this story tells of miscarriage and tragedy. Yet for another of the women, the execution of her husband allowed her to return from self-imposed exile, freed from the fear that her son would be taken from her by her estranged husband. This is also a story of women of power and success – some of the widows emerged from the shadows to become leaders themselves. It is a human story told against the backdrop of the years of conflict in Ireland 1916-1923 - the Rising, the War of Independence and the Civil War. Easter Widows introduces all the characters separately through the romances of these seven women – Lillie, Maud, Kathleen, Aine, Agnes, Grace, Muriel – before bringing their stories together in a cohesive narrative. These interlinking stories are clearly embedded in an authentic historical account. (Publisher)

About this title

About the Author

Sinead McCoole is the author of two highly acclaimed non-fiction Irish history titles: Hazel: A Life of Lady Lavery (Lilliput Press 1996); No Ordinary Women: Irish Female Activists, 1900-1923 (O'Brien Press 2003) Other publications include Guns and Chiffon (1997); The Reseacher's Handbook (2000); and Passion and Politics (2010). Sinead has curated exhibitions on Irish history and Irish art at Dublin City Hugh Lane Gallery, including Society and Politics (1996); and Passion and Politics (2010); Kilmainham Jail's Robert Emmet Bi-centenary exhibition (2003) and Guns and Chiffon (1997) which toured in the US in 1998. She is currently the Director of the Jackie Clarke Collection.

Review

"Arguably the most enjoyable book of the year... Of the many books that will be published to commemorate the Easter Rising's centenary in 2016, few will be as riveting as Sinead McCoole's Easter Widows ... heart-rending ... fascinating." -- Richard Fitzpatrick Irish Examiner "It is very unlikely that any of the books to be published about the Rising will be as moving and as empathetic as Easter Widows... Her marvellous history combines the skills of the scrupulously conscientious researcher and historian with the craft of the storyteller and the art of the novelist." Books Ireland "Sinead McCoole's passion for her subject gives an energy to her writing. Drawing on new research and skilfully weaving the skeins of the seven stories together, she makes us think about the high price paid by the women for their husbands' political dreams." -- Rachel Trethewey The Independent "McCoole is on first-name terms with her subjects and moves effortlessly among them... Easter Widows, a worthy addition to McCoole's excellent back catalogue, is a valiant account of what the women did for a country that has yet to live up to the 1916 ideal of equality between Irish men and Irish women." -- Susan McKay The Irish Times "It is very unlikely that any of the books to be published about the Rising will be as moving and as empathetic as Easter Widows ... Her marvellous history combines the skills of the scrupulously conscientious researcher and historian with the craft of the storyteller and the art of the novelist." -- Hugh McFadden Books Ireland

Edition details

• Publisher: Doubleday Ireland
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1781620237
• ISBN 13: 9781781620236
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 464