Feminism in the Republic of Ireland

Feminism has played a major role in shaping the legal and social position of women in present-day Ireland.

Women participated actively in the Easter Rising of 1916, the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798 and the first armed action of the Irish revolutionary period.

Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, a voting rights activist, told audiences during a speaking tour in 1917 that "it is the only instance I know of in history when men fighting for freedom voluntarily included women.

They were typically activists who had fought for social justice and equality in a variety of ways: land reform, labor organizing and women’s suffrage.

["All citizens of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) without distinction of sex, who have reached the age of twenty-one years and who comply with the provisions of the prevailing electoral laws, shall have the right to vote for members of Dáil Éireann, and to take part in the Referendum and Initiative.

[9] The 1937 Constitution of Ireland guaranteed women the right to vote and to nationality and citizenship on an equal basis with men.

2° The State shall, therefore, endeavour to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home.Second-wave feminism in Ireland began in the 1970s, fronted by women such as Nell McCafferty, Mary Kenny, June Levine and Nuala O'Faolain.

[citation needed] In 1971, a group of Irish feminists (including June Levine, Mary Kenny, Nell McCafferty, Máirín Johnston, and other members of the Irish Women's Liberation Movement) travelled to Belfast, Northern Ireland, on the so-called "Contraceptive Train" and returned with condoms, which were then illegal in Ireland.

The Supreme Court ruled by a 4 to 1 majority in favor of her, after determining that married couples have the constitutional right to make private decisions on family planning.

[26] The Health (Family Planning) (Amendment) Act 1985 allowed the sale of condoms and spermicides to people over 18 in Ireland, without requiring a prescription.

[33] Other important legal changes made to family law include the Domicile and Recognition of Foreign Divorces Act 1986,[27] which abolished the dependent domicile of the wife; and the Family Law Act 1988, which abolished the legal action for restitution of conjugal rights.

The Supreme Court ruled by a 4 to 1 majority in her favor, after determining that married couples have the constitutional right to make private decisions on family planning.

In 1983, the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland was approved in a referendum, which recognized "the unborn" as having a right to life equal to that of "the mother".

[25] In 1985, the Health (Family Planning) (Amendment) Act 1985 allowed the sale of condoms and spermicides to people over 18 in Ireland without having to present a prescription.

[36] In 1992, the Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland was passed, specifying that the protection of the right to life of the unborn does not limit freedom of travel in and out of the state.

Partly in response to the death of Savita Halappanavar,[37][38] the Irish government introduced the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013; it was commenced on 1 January 2014.

In 2018, the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, which recognized "the unborn" as having a right to life equal to that of "the mother",[23] was repealed by referendum.

[43] The Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 came into effect in 2019, and defines the circumstances and processes within which abortion may be legally performed in Ireland.

This law permits terminations to be carried out up to 12 weeks of pregnancy; or where there is a risk to the life, or of serious harm to the health, of the pregnant woman; or where there is a risk to the life, or of serious harm to the health, of the pregnant woman in an emergency; or where there is a condition present which is likely to lead to the death of the fetus either before or within 28 days of birth.

In December 2008, Senator Ivana Bacik organised an event in Leinster House in which all the women elected to the Oireachtas over the years were honoured.

In 1918, Constance Markievicz became the first woman elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, although in line with Sinn Féin abstentionist policy she did not take her seat, and sat as a TD in Dáil Éireann in 1919.