Celibacy in Irish Women’s Writing, 1860s1950s

Posting announcements and sharing research findings about the Irish Research Council Project and Podcast Series “Celibacy in Irish Women’s Writing, 1860s-1950s

A new history of feminist, queer and activist celibacies in Ireland

In the popular imagination, the practice of celibacy in 19th and 20th century Ireland evokes images of male priests, Catholic moral values, and conservative, even reactionary, politics concerning women and sexuality. This project reveals a different history that centres less familiar feminist, queer, and activist versions of celibacy in Irish women’s movements and literatures.

Frances Power Cobbe

In a series of essays published in the 1860s, the Irish women’s and animal rights activist Frances Power Cobbe argued that women embrace celibacy as a means to greater social, educational and economic equality.

Kate O’Brien

The novels of Limerick author Kate O’Brien present a 20th-century Irish Catholic twist on the 19th-century ‘celibate plot’, which charts a character’s development not towards dependence and integration into patriarchal social structures, as in the ‘marriage plot,’ but rather towards independence and a rejection of the limits that such structures place upon women a rejection of the marriage proposal.

Elizabeth Bowen

Elizabeth Bowen…

Teresa Deevy

Teresa Deevy…

Margaret Cousins

Margaret Cousins…

Hannah Lynch

Hannah Lynch…

Podcast Series

An Irish Research Council funded podcast series explores celibate politics, aesthetics and sexualities in Irish women’s writing through conversations with leading sexuality studies and Irish Studies experts, including Benjamin Kahan, Maureen O’Connor, Michelle Witen, Deirdre Foley and more…!

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