Rising
Sound and Fury

Maud Gonne MacBride

Gonne, an Irish patriot, actress, and feminist, presented herself as Ireland’s Joan of Arc (it was her nickname), and was an inspiration to many Irish women of her time. She was the founder of Inghinidhe na hÉireann (Daughters of Ireland), an organization that was later subsumed into Cumann na mBan.

The imagery surrounding Saint Joan of Arc was reinforced by Gonne’s fellow patriot and nationalist, Constance Markievicz, who invoked the Saint in an address to young Irish women in 1909 with,
’And if in your day the call should come for your body to arm, do not shirk that either. May this aspiration towards life and freedom among the women of Ireland bring forth a Joan of Arc to free our nation’ (Ward).

Markievicz, who trained as an artist, knew the importance of imagery and the power of visuals. Appearing in a pageant in 1914, dressed as Joan of Arc, she presents a woman political prisoner with a sword. Portraiture of her in the early 1900s presented her in military uniform, a call to Irish women to join her in taking up arms (Maguire).

Roe McMahon’s photo 'Constance Markievicz
in a pageant as Joan of Arc appearing to a woman
political prisoner.'
Courtesy of the National Library of Ireland.

LONE KNIGHT

She said: “Your banners are liars,
And vain is your glory of fight:
For me no triumph of yours — instead
I hold to one fair young knight.
I would doff the dress of a woman,
And in corslet and greaves,” she said,
“I would up and take horse with the lances
And Joan the Maid.”

She said: “On the roads are horses --
I would leave my father and mother,
And forfeit the riches of money
And the love of my only brother.
I would give my brother a token,
My sisters a kiss,” she said --
“And away to draw sword with the sword
Of Joan the Maid.”

She said: “To the knight I give homage,
Who put the knights to shame:
I touch with my lips her gauntlet,
And in murmur speak her name.
I hold to the white-armoured woman,
The valiant, the gentle,” she said . . .
“Let the lances go forth in the shadows
For Joan the Maid!”

Grace Gifford Plunkett's cell in Kilmainham Gaol
showing Mrs. Plunkett's painting of Mary and Child.

Patrick Kelly, his wife Mary and sister Kitty Kelly (also known as Katie), knew, not only Markievicz and Gonne, but many other Cumann na mBan members who responded to the call to take up arms for Ireland.

These included the artist Estella Solomons who painted Patrick Kelly’s portrait; Kathleen Goodfellow, who under the name of Michael Scot, reviewed Patrick Kelly’s first publication Ballads; and the Gifford sisters (Grace, Muriel, Nellie and Sidney) who were members of Inghinidhe na hÉireann, Cumann na mBan, and Sinn Féin, an Irish political party founded in 1905.

It was Mary Kelly and her son, Eddie, who smuggled paints to Grace Gifford Plunkett for her painting of Mary and Child on her cell wall in Kilmainham Gaol, when she was imprisoned during the Civil War.

Kitty Kelly in 1966 at the 50th Anniversary
of the 1916 Easter Rising.

On Easter Monday 1916, on hearing the news of the Rising, Kitty Kelly decided to find Constance Markievicz and offer her services to her. She found her in Stephen’s Green, where her help was gratefully received. However, coming under heavy sniper fire from the British, the Stephen’s Green group retreated to the College of Surgeons under the command of Michael Malin.

Kitty carried a dispatch from Malin to the General Post Office where, after some time, there was an eventual surrender to the British. She was imprisoned in Kilmainham Gaol for three weeks on bread and water.

In her required statement to the British officer on her release, who admonished her for risking her life given that she was not a member of Cumann na mBan, but a mere volunteer – Kitty said ‘We never got anything from England that we didn’t fight for.’

Gravestone of Katie (Kitty) Kelly
Bohermore Cemetery, Galway City

When she was released from prison, Kitty continued her involvement in the struggle for Ireland during the War of Independence. Collaborating with formidable figures like Alice M. Cashel, who was staying in Cashel where Kitty lived, she helped establish and organize Volunteer units in Connemara. Despite the looming threat of reprisals from the Black and Tans, Kitty remained undeterred in her pursuit of freedom for her homeland (Kelly).

Bibliography
Kelly, Kitty. Kitty Kelly, Cashel, Connemara: Interview on the 50th Anniversary of the Easter Rising. Edith O'Lochlainn. April 1966.
Maguire, Donal. Markievicz: Portraits and Propaganda. 2019. 17 August 2024.
Ward, Margaret. In Their Own Voices: Women and Irish Nationalism. Cork: Attic Press Ltd., 2001.