Ah, Those Irish Colleens!: Heroic Women of Ireland

by Helen Walsh Folsom, Michael Allen Lowe (Illustrator)

Overview

While women in modern Western society have spent the last century fighting for equal rights, women in ancient Ireland were accorded legal equality with men. Under the Brehon Laws women had the right to own property, rule territories, seek an education, and sue for divorce. Celtic women were also warriors, frequently taking up arms and marching into battle with their brothers and husbands.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781581823554
Publisher:	TURNER PUB CO
Publication date:	11/01/2003
Series:	Heroic Women of Ireland
Pages:	295
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.94(d)

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	vii
	Introduction	xi
	Queen Maeve, the Warrior Queen (122 B.C.-A.D. 02)	2
	Deirdre of the Sorrows (31-9 B.C.)	26
	Bridget, the Saint (453-545)	56
	Gormlaith of Clontarf (1014)	72
	Dearvorgilla, the Unforgettable (1108-1193)	88
	Grace O'Malley, the Pirate Queen (1530-1603)	104
	Mabel Bagenal, the Elopement (1571-1596)	130
	Maire Rua O'Brien, Red Mary (1615-1686)	154
	Sarah Curran, a Patriot's Love (1781-1808)	172
	Mary O'Connor, the Rose of Tralee (1823-1849)	194
	Speranza, Lady Wilde (1826-1896)	218
	Kitty O'Shea and the Uncrowned King (1845-1921)	236
	Mand Gonne and the Poet Yeats (1866-1953)	264
	Epilogue	287
	Index	289

Editorial Reviews

Perhaps the unrestrained heritage of Irish women accounts for their passionate, fiery spirit. Inheriting more than fair skin and auburn tresses from their Celtic ancestors, indeed, Irish women descend from a long line of gaelic heroines whose love, fury, greed, and patriotism moved governments and changed history. Filled with true stories told in a fictional format, "Ah, Those Irish Colleens! presents the incredible lives of more than a dozen Irish women of prominence or fame, including: - Deirdre of the Sorrows, whom a druid predicted would grow into a beautiful woman but would be the cause of much strife among men.- Grace O'Malley the famous pirate, seafarer, and trader in the 1500s who even at an early age aspired to be a sailor.- Maire Rua O'Brien, Red Mary, known for both her red hair and her flaming temper, who, to save her beloved Lemanagh Castle, offered to marry one of Cromwell's officers after Cromwell's army had killed her husband. - Mary O'Connor, the servant girl who stole the heart of poet William Pembroke Mulchinock and was immortalized in his poem "The Rose of Tralee." - Kitty O'Shea, whose adulterous affair with Irish MP Charles Stewart Parnell, known as the "Uncrowned King," shocked proper society but is acknowledged as one of the greatest love stories of all time.These stories and more demonstrate the complex character of Irish women from the time of the Brehons to the present.

From the Publisher