No freedom until women's freedom

Beechmount Avenue, Belfast 2015

This mural was painted on 2014 for celebrating the 100 year anniversary (“céad bliain”) of the Cumann na mBan (League of Women), constituted on the 2nd of April 1914.

The role of the group was very important during the Easter Rising of 1916 when the members were involved in the occupation of several places.

The main figure in the mural is Countess Markievicz, an Irish politician, member of the IRA. During the Rising in Dublin, she occupied Stephen's Green for the six days of the Rebellion.

In December 1918, she was the first woman elected to the British House of Commons, and from 1919 and 1922 she was also one of the first women in the world to hold a cabinet position (Minister of the Labour for the Irish Republic).

See some old photos of the women of Cumann na mBan here. More info on the mural (of this and of others in Belfast) can be found in the blog of Extramural Activity.

In the mural “Cnamb” stands for Cumann na mBan and “Ní saoirse go saoirse na mban” in Irish means No freedom until women's freedom.