It has been confirmed that a blue plaque is to be erected at the Ship Street entrance of Dublin Castle in commemoration of Irish suffragette Hanna Sheehy Skeffington.
The plaque will be erected by Dublin City Council to honour where one of Ireland’s most iconic figures smashed windows in protest against women not having the right to vote.
There are plans to unveil the plaque on June 13th, the same date the Irish suffragette smashed windows in Dublin Castle on her own in 1912.
Lord Mayor of Dublin Micheál Mac Donnacha said:
“Hanna Sheehy Skeffington is Ireland’s most famous suffragette and her actions and agitation directly contributed to Irish women winning the vote in 1918.
“Hanna lived in Dublin and was elected to the Council so it’s entirely fitting that Dublin City Council recognise her role in Irish political life by erecting a plaque in her honour and I look forward to unveiling this later in the year.”
On Tuesday (February 6th) the granddaughter of Hanna Sheehy Skeffington reenacted her grandmothers actions to mark the day women got the right to vote 100 years ago in Ireland.
Micheline Sheehy Skeffington dressed up in appropriate attire of the time, smashed a replica window and was “arrested” by a policeman.
Speaking about her motivation for staging the re-enactment Micheline Sheehy Skeffington said:
“I want to ensure that the courage of the suffragettes is honoured on the centenary of women getting the vote. What they did and what they achieved is incredibly impressive. We have the vote today because of them. Power and privilege are never given up easily by any section of society, but things changed through women like Hanna taking a very public and often unpopular stance to demand that change. So we owe it to them to ensure they are remembered.”
