Investigating the Role of Women in the IRA

from the
THE HARVARD COLLEGE
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROGRAMS NEWSLETTER
December 1998

"The Provisional IRA was born in the early 1970s," Molly explains, "and from the start women were recruited or volunteered to join the movement. They were a heterogeneous group from primarily Catholic, working class backgrounds who were united by one cause: the militant fight to free Northern Ireland."

"My interest in this topic developed from courses I have taken," she continues. "I took Professor Susan Pederson's class on twentieth-century Britain during my sophomore year and ended up writing a paper on the IRA. Last fall, I took a tutorial on torture and reconciliation with Jennifer Schirmer, a lecturer in Social Studies. My final paper looked at women in the IRA." By spring semester, when she enrolled in Professor Louise Richard-son's course on terrorism, Molly was sure she wanted to write her thesis on women republican activists in Northern Ireland.

She was also sure that she wanted to go to Belfast. "I was really eager to see the places I had been reading about," Molly says. "So much of the history of the resistance has to do with physical locations-neighborhoods, boundaries, where things began and ended." Belfast is also an ideal research sight, as it is home to Sinn Fein headquarters as well as a number of veteran activists. Finally, two area libraries have extensive archives on "The Troubles," as the peak period of conflict between unionist, republican, and government forces is known.

Before she left, Molly worked on building a list of Belfast contacts. She spent a good deal of the spring and early summer on the phone. "Because of the time difference, I was waking up at five in the morning to make my calls," she smiles. Associate Professor Begona Aretxaga, who has written a book on republican women's resistance during the 1970s and 1980s, helped Molly draw up questions for her interviews. "Professor Aretxaga also provided me with access to yet unpublished interviews she conducted with IRA women," says Molly.

Professor Richardson and Dr. Schirmer helped Molly successfully present her project to the Committee on the Use of Human Subjects in Research, the review board that determines whether proposed studies will adequately safeguard the rights and welfare of its subjects. "With this project, there were a number of concerns about my safety and the safety of my interview subjects," Molly says. She arrived in Belfast in August and spent her first day walking the streets of the city, passing the sites of many of the most violent encounters of "The Troubles." "In West Belfast," Molly says, "street corners really did become battlegrounds." She also visited Milltown Cemetery, burial site to several prominent slain republicans. She was acutely aware of the surveillance cameras and observation towers that loomed above the graveyard. "I quickly found out that everything is high security in Belfast," says Molly. "All of the doors are locked, so you are constantly being buzzed into places, even retail stores." That first day was followed by an intense two weeks of activity that saw Molly land 23 interviews. She talked with republicans, unionists, politicians, members of the clergy, and even a man who made gravestones. "His business was located between Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods," Molly says, "and he showed me all of the bullet holes in his walls."

She admits she was a little nervous the first time she visited the offices of Sinn Fein. "They are based in a largely abandoned building," she says. "A group of men gathered out front pointed me to this side entrance, which led to a winding staircase, which led to an anteroom with an enormous steel door. It all seemed so sketchy. The door was obviously huge for security reasons, and I couldn't even move it. A man had to open it for me from the inside. It happened every time I went back-I just couldn't make an unobtrusive entrance."

She had several enlightening talks with republican women and discovered a difference in the way that old and young approached their activism. "The older women seemed to have seen the conflict as purely political from the start," Molly says. "But because the younger women knew no life without 'The Troubles,' there was a strong personal side to their activism. One admitted that her involvement began when she was seven and threw bottles at soldiers, with things escalating from there.

"All acknowledged one thing, however," Molly continues. "Republican women have an established tradition of political organization and leadership from which they draw both strength and support."

Molly was thrilled to discover an international women's leadership conference in progress upon her arrival. "I wasn't that excited that the Clintons were going to be there," she says. "I just couldn't believe so many of the women I wanted to talk to were going to be in one place." Through a stroke of good fortune, Molly was able to gain full access to the conference. "I had passes to all of the events, including a few fancy receptions. I actually had to go out and buy a pair of shoes so that I could go to them!"

During her stay in Belfast, Molly was constantly reminded of the historic April peace accord and all that it promised. "I found signposts of change at every corner," she says. Just days before she left, the bulk of British troops pulled out of the city, effectively ending an occupancy that began in 1972.

"It was actually a little frustrating because I had originally planned to limit the focus of my research to the situation in the 1970s," Molly says. "With all that has happened, though, I've decided I definitely need to acknowledge the agreement in my thesis. What I'm trying to do, then, is look at how yesterday is influencing what is happening today."

- John Marchetti