40 Facts About Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington

Johanna Mary Sheehy-Skeffington was a suffragette and Irish nationalist.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington was later a founding member of the Irish Women Workers' Union.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington Sheehy was born in Kanturk, County Cork, Ireland, the daughter of Elizabeth "Bessie" McCoy and David Sheehy, an ex-Fenian and an MP for the Irish Parliamentary Party, representing South Galway.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington spent her earliest years in a millhouse which her father grew up in.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington had six siblings, one of whom died at an unknown age; there is very little written about this child.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington's siblings were Margaret, born 1875; Eugene, born 1882; Richard, born 1884; Mary Sheehy Kettle, born 1884; and Kathleen Cruise O'Brien, born 1886.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington was one of Eamon de Valera's teachers in Limerick.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington then enrolled at St Mary's University College, a third-level college for women established by the Dominicans in 1893, to study modern languages.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington sat for examinations at Royal University of Ireland and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1899, and a Master of Arts Degree with first-class honours in 1902.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington was influenced by James Connolly and during the 1913 lock-out worked with other suffragists in Liberty Hall, providing food for the families of the strikers.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington fought hard to get women the right to vote in Ireland, founding the IWFL in 1908 and founding the publication "The Irish Citizen" with her husband.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington strongly opposed participation in the First World War which broke out in August 1914, and was prevented by the British government from attending the International Congress of Women held in The Hague in April 1915.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington was later shot dead during the 1916 Easter Rising, after having been arrested by British soldiers.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington did not find out about his death until two days had passed.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington aligned herself with Sinn Fein, giving them her support.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington published British Militarism as I Have Known It, which was banned in the United Kingdom until after the First World War.

At the 1943 general election, at the age of 66, Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington stood for the Dail as an Independent candidate in the Dublin South constituency.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington received 917 votes and was not elected.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington was a founding member of the Irish Women Workers' Union and an author whose works deeply opposed British imperialism in Ireland.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington was a close friend of trade unionist and fellow suffragette Cissie Cahalan.

In November 1913 Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington attempted to present leaflets to the Conservative Party leader, Bonar Law, and the Ulster Unionist leader, Sir Edward Carson.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington was arrested after assaulting a police officer and was sent to Mountjoy Prison again.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington went on a hunger strike for five days until her release.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington was dismissed in 1913 from her job as a teacher at Rathmines School of Commerce for her continued involvement in feminist militancy.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington was taken to Bridewell Jail and then Holloway Jail where she went on hunger strike.

Alongside Maud Gonne and Charlotte Despard, Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington helped establish the Women's Prisoners' Defence League, to campaign and fundraise for over 7000 republicans who were imprisoned as a consequence of the Irish Civil War.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington had been barred from entering Northern Ireland because of her political record and was arrested and held for fifteen days.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington met and was photographed with the Indian independence leader Subhas Chandra Bose when he visited Ireland in 1936.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington took over the position of editor when her husband was shot in 1916 and remained in this role, on and off, until 1920 when the publication ceased.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington spoke at over 250 meetings for nineteen months across the United States expressing 'British Militarism'.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington first appeared on 6 January 1917 at Carnegie Hall, New York City.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington addressed huge crowds in New Haven, Springfield, Westfield, Hartford, Bridgeport, Lawrence, Meriden, Torrington, Fitchburg, New Bedford, Salem, Lowell, Worcester, Malden, Holyoke and Waterbury.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington had the most successful meetings at the Orchestra Hall, Chicago with over 3,000 people which included prominent figures of Chicago.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington's tours start to move westward in the spring of 1917.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington travelled to California, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Montana, Butte, Pasadena and San Francisco.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington wanted to tour New Mexico, Nebraska, Missouri and Alaska using her contacts as she wanted to extend her tours to various cities but it came to no avail.

In January 1918, Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington received a petition from the women of Cumann na mBan.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington spoke in Madison Square Garden in May before leaving New York City with her son, Owen Sheehy-Skeffington on 27 June 1918, ending the first round of her lecture tours.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington continued the Western section of the United States along with Kathleen Boland and Linda Kearns in 1922.

Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington died, aged 69, in Dublin, and is buried with her husband in Glasnevin Cemetery.