Inspirational Irish women you should know

In honor of International Women’s Day, we took a moment to celebrate spectacular Irish women, past and present, and to add to our list of Irish women you should know.

With ranks including a pilot, a daredevil, and the most dangerous woman in America, these women are an eclectic and fascinating bunch who are an inspiration to us all. Read on to find out more.

1. Charity Champions- The Overend women

We are kicking things off not with one woman, but three. Together with their mother Lily, sisters Letitia and Naomi Overend lived lives dedicated to altruism. After establishing the only working farm in Dublin city in 1894, they worked tirelessly for the WW1 effort with St. John Ambulance. Following the war and together with another impressive woman Dr Ella Webb, they founded the Children's Sunshine Home in 1923. This care home for children is still in operation, providing support to children in need to this day.

And the sisters home and farm is now also a charitable trust called Airfield. An oasis in the city, there are 38 acres for visitors young and old to explore food production and learn about self sufficiency and sustainability.

2. The Activist: Mary "Mother" Jones

Born Mary Harris in 1830 in County Cork, Ireland, her family emigrated first to Canada, then the USA fleeing the Great Famine in Ireland. Living in Memphis, she married George Jones, an iron worker and strong union supporter in 1861 having several children.

Tragedy struck in 1867, when her entire family died in an outbreak of yellow fever. The bereaved Mary Jones then moved to Chicago. She set to work as a dressmaker only to have her home destroyed in the Chicago fire of 1871.

Following these awful tragedies, Mary Jones threw herself into activism, working with the Knights of Labor and giving speeches to motivate workers during strikes. Known as the miners angel to many and "mother" to more for her care and devotion, she became a campaigner for the United Mine Workers Union and founded the Social Democratic Party in 1898. This tireless activism at one time earned her the title of "the most dangerous woman in America."

Never one to rest, she helped establish the Industrial Workers of the World in 1905 and at the age of 82 was arrested for her part in a strike in West Virginia. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but her supporters managed to convince the state governor to grant her a pardon.

True to character, Jones got straight back to organising workers. She was celebrated across the USA in 1930 for what was thought to be her 100th birthday and she died later that year on November 30, 1930. Even in death she was committed to her cause, asking to be buried in the Miners Cemetery in Mt. Olive, Illinois.

3. The aviator : Lilian Bland

Long before Amelia Earhart, and inspired by her own observations of seagulls in flight, Lilian Bland was the first woman in the world to design, build, and fly an airplane in 1909.

Born in Kent, England in 1878 to Irish parents, her father John moved the entire family to Carnmoney, in his native Co. Antrim in 1900.

Lilian was not a typical woman of her time with her cigarette smoking, horse riding, hunting, fishing and shooting. She was also fascinated with flying and attended the first official aviation meeting in Blackpool in 1909.

After that experience, she was hooked. Lilian immediately set to work building a biplane glider with a 6ft wingspan as a test. After succeeding with that, she and then built a full-size glider made of bamboo, spruce, elm and ash which she ironically dubbed “The Mayfly” given her doubts about its ability to fly.

With the help of 5 strapping lads to tether her to the ground, she convinced herself this 200lbs, 20ft 7in wingspan craft glider could fly in a test on Carnmoney Hill after lifting all six of them all in the air! She then fitted it with a 20hp engine from the A.V Roe Aircraft Company, strengthening the Mayfly to support the extra weight.

After several attempts, the first true flight of the Mayfly took place at Lord O’Neill’s parkland in Randalstown, with Lilian flying the plane at an altitude of 30 feet, staying in the air for a quarter of a mile. Documenting this feat in a letter to Flight magazine, Lilian continued experimenting with further flights and started a business offering biplanes for £250 and gliders for £80.

Her burgeoning business and aviation career was short lived however, and she emigrated to Canada in 1911 after getting married. But her exploits inspired a generation of female pilots that followed this trailblazer.

4. The Daredevil: Lady Mary Heath

Another aviator and the woman who directly inspired Amelia Earhart and generations of Irish aviators, we couldn't leave Lady Mary Heath off this list.

This record-setting, daredevil was one of the most famous women in the world for a time in the 1920's. Born Sophie Peirce-Evans in Knockaderry, Co. Limerick in 1896, her tragic early years were followed by an extraordinary and relatively short life of firsts.

She was the first female commercial pilot in the UK, Britains first ever women’s javelin champion, the first woman to gain mechanic’s qualification in America, and the first woman to parachute jump from a plane, garnering her that daredevil title.

But it was another first that garnered her international fame. She was the first person, male or female, to fly solo from South Africa to London in 1928. Flying the 10,000 mile journey in an open air cockpit, she battled heatstroke, a crash landing, and rolling repairs, to land victorious to an adoring crowd in London three months after she set out from Cape Town.

She went on to achieve many more firsts, however eleven short years after her international triumph, Lady Mary Heath died on May 9, 1939 at the age of 42. Fittingly, her ashes were scattered from an aircraft flown by her husband, remaining forever in flight.

5. The Arts Patron: Margaret O'Carroll

A Medieval Irish noblewoman, Margaret O'Carroll was born in the early fifteenth century in Co. Offaly. She was known as Margaret-an-Einigh (Margaret the Hospitable) for her patronage of the arts and laid the template for arts and music festivals of today with her great feasts in the 1440s. In an age long before promotion, Margaret issued invitations to musicians, poets, artists, and college professors among others to attend the festivities. There were 2,700 attendees recorded by Giolla na Naemh MacEgan at her first “Great Feast.”

These events were presided over by Margaret-an-Einigh, every bit the Celtic Queen, and helped to preserve Gaelic culture during a time of conquest. But she didn’t just know how to throw a party. She also reportedly acted as negotiator with the English during a conflict in 1445. She also commissioned the building of roads, bridges, and churches as well as a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostello to serve her church.

6. The warriors: Aibhe and the banféinní

We know from Brehon Laws that in ancient Ireland, women had greater freedoms than those elsewhere at the time. Importantly women were entitled to enter the same professions as men including that of warrior. Celtic stories have mention of many women warriors. Scáthach, Aife, and Liath Luachra, were all skilled warriors who trained many for battle, including the famous Cú Chulainn and Fionn mac Cumall.

There is even a warrior goddess - the tripartite Morrígan, Badb, and Macha. Queen Maeve who we wrote about previously should also get a mention, along with the banféinní, of the Fianna, the 'female warrior-hunters'.

Many of their names have been lost to time, but Ailbhe Gruadbrecc, the daughter of High King Cormac mac Art has her name recorded as she was married to the famous Fionn mac Cumall. With her name translating as Ailbhe (pronounced Al-va) ‘of the freckled cheeks, she was reportedly a fierce warrior who died just one year after marrying the famous hero. Given her profession it may have been while hunting or in battle.

Sadly we will never know her full story, along with those of countless other fierce women, as they were either not recorded, lost, or deliberately ignored by the recorders of history that followed. But interest in the history of Irish women is growing year to year in Ireland, so who knows what the future holds?

Feeling inspired?

We hope that we've motivated you to celebrate the audacious and inspiring Irish women in your life. We hear incredible things from our customers about the astonishing resilience, creativity, and love of the women in their lives - we are always deeply honored when you share your stories with us.

The women of My Irish Jeweler

If you are a regular reader of our emails, our blog, or follow us on social media, you'll know that we would flounder without the magnificent women of My Irish Jeweler. Their dedication to making sure each and every customer has an exceptional experience is the backbone of our business. So we only think it right to finish this list with a thank you to them!