Abstracts History

Women and trade unions in Ireland, c. 1860-1937: class, gender and society

by Elaine Sugrue

This thesis aims to assist in the task of writing women back into the history of Irish trade unionism. The date range is c.1860 to 1937, but the main concentration is on the period from 1880 to 1937. The first part considers attitudes voiced towards women’s involvement in paid work and efforts to organise female industrial workers in late nineteenth-century Ireland. Women’s involvement in the following sample of trade unions is also explored and analysed: the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation, the Irish Union of Distributive Workers and Clerks, the Irish Women Workers’ Union, and the Irish Local Government Officials’ Union. Insights into the role of gender in Irish trade union history and factors that could be divisive amongst female workers feature. Rather than a focus on a small number of particularly prominent female trade unionists, this thesis attempts to provide a broader view of women’s participation in these bodies. It enhances our knowledge of women and trade unions in Irish history.