Cork's Kilmainham Ep. 6: Women Of The War Of Independence

Cover Art is a photo of the iconic "Muriel" painting by artist Jeanette Collins.

Free Download: Get the free booklet here on Patreon, exploring the history of Cork Military Detention Barracks , "Cork's Kilmainham" ,and the extraordinary stories connected to the surviving site.

In Cork's Kilmainham Ep. 6: Women of the War of Independence, we turn to the women whose work surrounded the detention barracks, Victoria Barracks and Cork's revolutionary struggle.

From Cumann na mBan intelligence work and prison visits to spies inside British military headquarters, vigils outside the barrack gates, military courts, dispatch carrying and an audacious assassination attempt, this episode looks at the women who were far more than supporting figures in the Irish War of Independence.

We revisit Ellen "Nellie" Carroll, Seán Allen's fiancée, whose access to him inside Cork Military Detention Barracks became a channel for intelligence. We follow Josephine Marchment, who worked inside Victoria Barracks while secretly passing information to the IRA.

We also return to Ballycannon, the suspected informer Cruxy O'Connor, and the extraordinary poisoning plot involving Nora Martin and Ethel Condon.

Finally, we look at what happened after the revolution, when women such as Ellen Carroll were forced to fight for recognition through the Military Service Pension system — and how those files now preserve some of the richest evidence we have of women's revolutionary service.

All of these stories lead back to one place: Cork Military Detention Barracks, the surviving historic prison at the old Victoria Barracks, a site still under threat of demolition.

Topics include: Cumann na mBan, women in the Irish War of Independence, Cork revolutionary history, Victoria Barracks Cork, Cork Military Detention Barracks, Seán Allen, Ellen Carroll, Josephine Marchment, Nora Martin, Ethel Condon, Ballycannon, Cruxy O'Connor, IRA intelligence, Military Service Pensions and women's history in Cork.