Local woman's story told in new doc on sexual violence during the Irish Revolution
A Westmeath woman's rape by a group of Republicans during the Irish Civil War is one of the harrowing tales featured in a new TG4 documentary being aired next Wednesday night, September 23.
Stories of sexual violence against women have been an integral part of the studies of many conflicts around the world from the two world wars through to the civil war in Yugoslavia.
For years, the War of Independence and subsequent Civil War were seen as being exceptional in that these acts didn’t occur here.
However, a different view is slowly coming to light due to the new ground-breaking research from people like historians Mary McAuliffe and Lindsey Earner-Byrne, sociologists Linda Connolly and Louise Ryan and writer-historian Ann Mathews. Taking a fresh look at old sources and new material, they are uncovering many new and previously untold stories of violence against women.
Cogadh ar Mhná, which airs next Wednesday night, September 23, at 9.30pm, takes these new, untold stories and dramatises them in an incredibly evocative way using the words of these women wherever we have their first-hand accounts. It allows these women’s voices in their own words to be heard for the first time in a hundred years and it redresses the balance of the history of the period that has been largely focused on fighters and military tactics.
One of the women whose story is told is a Mary M from Westmeath who was raped by a band of Republicans and became pregnant as a result. Her hand written pleas to the Archbishop of Dublin begging for help have been uncovered. Or there is the story of the Kenmare incident where two girls were assaulted by members of the Free State Army only to have it covered up at the highest echelons of the newly formed government. Or the six page letter from Norah Healy from Cork City who was pregnant when she was raped by the Crown Forces. On reporting it to the RIC, she spotted one of her attackers in the police station and was told “Never mind, don’t say anything now” by the Sergeant in Charge.
Written and directed by Ciara Hyland, Cogadh ar Mhná says the unsaid, and blows the lid off these stories, leaving behind the belief that Ireland’s wars were somehow exceptional and different – more honourable - than every other war.