English Feminists, Imperialism and the Politics of Organisation in the Irish Suffrage Movement, 1900–14

This article explores how English women's intervention in the Irish suffrage movement was both a help and a hindrance to Irish women. On the one hand, it caused political animosity and division, because many Irish suffrage campaigners feared a subsumption into the larger British movement. On the other hand, Irish women recognised that the links between English and Irish groups helped them maintain pressure on the British parliament, connecting them to the wider British movement. This article looks beyond the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) to account for the political and social diversity and intricacies of the wider suffrage movement in both nations. In doing so, it seeks to understand how political ideologies, national identities and personal friendships were built in the early 20th century. This article shows how imperial feminism permeated the organising of many English societies in Ireland, even those run by socialists who supported the principle of home rule for Ireland. Yet imperial assumptions and attitudes did not entirely eliminate opportunities for solidarity across the Irish sea. This article therefore also examines the ways in which close working relationships were created and sustained, and even provided the basis for future collaborations between English and Irish political activists.