Evening star., 1922-10-01

IL
to the men. No difference
was made whatever on account Oh
their sex" said Mrs. Muriel MacSwi-
ney when in Washington last week
and discussing the women OF lreiano.
Hearing this, one felt that surely
with this long period of responsibility
and freedom for the Irish women. the
race must have produced some very
interesting and heroic women. Anu
so they were In nearly every perioo
Of Irish history at least one woman
stood out as a remarkable hgure.
Tn the most ancient tales OF Ire
land there were famous women Jaw
yers, physicians and judges mentioneu;
The ban n-file'-woman poels u
often prophets-were held in particu-
iarly high esteem in Ireland ana tne
old aristocracy, as well as the com
mon class Of Irish people. proauceo
women so gifted with the art OF nee
dlework, especially lace-maklng. tnas
the gift practically amoun.eu
genius, and Irish laces and embrold-
ered linens are still among the lead-
ing needlework products OF the "oriu.
Another phase Of the old irish taies
that is particularly interesting Is t.a'
the women's roles in the old love sto
ries were always more promihehns en-
than the men's-contrary TO tns
method employed by Teutonic story
teIlers. with whom the hero. and not
| the heroine was the person 10 DC
gIorifled. ,.r
oine of the famous tale: me ENiie
Of the Sons of Isnech. And then
there was Queen Medb, the proud ana
ambitious Queen of Connacht: VINO
was the most amazonian of Gaelic
wonen, She was said by chroniclers
of her time to have been lar so
pcrior to her husband Ann IN ac.uai ;sa
combat and also in matters OF wise
counsel. Again, there was Emer.
we'll loved By her people ana tne
i faY,hful wife of the famous Cuchu-
! lainn. Etain Of the Horses was
one of the mythical heroines. Ine
most popular OF the wee ia''s io'>'
! with the Irish people
4 FTER. the advent Of Christianity
! n in ireland there were many
| Irishwomen who won fame as great
religious devotees The most noted
of these was the beautiful Brlsid
(Bridget). the shepherd maiden OF
F'aughard. who was the disciple OF
the famous st. Patrick. ST. Brlsid
is renowned above all other women in
Ireland Tradition says that hers
were the hands which wove the
! shroud OF the revered Patrick. She
died in 525.
Ronnat the mother of the old Irish
writer St Adamnan. is spoken or
most highly in Irish history and an
old Gaelic text states that she II was
who secured the royal decree which
liberated the Irish women from MIL.
!, tary service. Before her time the
women. as we'll as the men. were com
PEELED to engage in this service when
Il need for protection called all to
the coors. The old text says that
she was walking beside her son near
taken place and she came Upon the
rotiec or two women who had fallen
in battle. One grasped reaping
hook and the other sword. Both
had suffered with horrible wounds.
The horrifed Ronnat Influenced her
son to secure the consent OF the great
council body to get this decree free
ing women from war service IN
view of the way the Irish women of
today are fighting with their men @ for
Ireland's freedom this old decree
seems especially significant.
Gormlai is noted among the irish
people as having been one OF the
noblest queens that Ireland ever had.
Her father was king OF the Meathan
branch of the Clan Nal. Gorlniai was
widely known as poetess OF dis
tinct genius as well as wise. brave
woman.
In the time of Elizabeth OF Eng
;land, Ireland, TOO. had a famous wom-
an ruler in Grace O'Malley-Granuaile
OF the ballads-who was a second
Medb and warlike queen Of Con-
nacht. Instead OF a war chariot. she
directed her operations from the Prov
of a swift galley and swept from isle
to isle. taking tribute and plunder
from the clans. The story Is told OF
how she stood face to face with the
Virgin Queen Of England. and when
offered an English title by the con-
descending Elizabeth she stated that
F.; she was princess in her own island
(: X X
: 90 on down through all the turbu-
: y lent pages of Irish history the
! women have fought constantly at the
| side of the Irish men and proved their
| worth as individuals. That this spirit
J Is still thoroughly implanted in the
Irish women of today was shown most
forcefully in Miss Linda Kerns, the
Irish nurse. who accompanies Mrs.
MacSwiney on her tour through the
United States at this time.
Miss Kerns has suffered long hours
| in prisons both in England and Ire
land, and was once stood up against
! a wall with some Irishmen to be shot.