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Locating women within the Irish Department of External Affairs: a case study of Irish women at the League of Nations and United Nations, 1923–76

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2019

Ann Marie O'Brien
Ann Marie O'Brien*
Affiliation:
University of Limerick
*
*Department of History, University of Limerick, [email protected]
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Abstract

By using the League of Nations and United Nations as case studies, this article identifies the women working at the diplomatic level in the Irish Department of External Affairs (D.E.A.) in the period 1923–76. Drawing on gender analysis, the article assesses where men and women were positioned in Irish diplomacy and asks if the role of women in the D.E.A. was shaped by a gendered viewpoint. It argues that there were more opportunities for women within the United Nations than the League of Nations and it questions if these increased diplomatic opportunities were reflective of women's changing status within the D.E.A. in the period under investigation. Overall, the article offers a new perspective on the conduct of Irish foreign policy between 1923 and 1976.

Type
Research Article
Information
Irish Historical Studies , Volume 43 , Issue 163 , May 2019 , pp. 94 - 110
Copyright
Copyright © Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd 2019 

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References

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24 Report of the committee on the admission of women to the diplomatic and consular services [C. 5166], H.C. 1934 (7 Nov. 1934), p. 3.

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31 League of Nations, general organisation of the secretariat, Aug. 1929 (N.A.I., DFA 2/26/8).

32 Herren, ‘Gender and international relations’, p. 182.

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35 Carol Miller, ‘Lobbying the league: women's international organizations and the League of Nations’ (D.Phil. thesis, University of Oxford, 1992), p. 102.

36 Ibid.

37 Ibid.

38 International Council of Women to W. T. Cosgrave, 27 Sept. 1926 (N.A.I., TSCH/S8177).

39 My thanks to Maureen Sweeney, archivist, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, for providing me with Rosita Austin's curriculum vitae.

40 J. P. Walshe, Department of External Affairs memorandum, Dec. 1926 (N.A.I., TSCH/S5337).

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47 ‘Memorandum for the Government: appointment of Irish minister to the Netherlands’, 2 Aug. 1949 (N.A.I., TSCH/S14366A/1).

48 Pietilä, The unfinished story of women and the United Nations, pp 9–10.

49 Article eight, Charter of the United Nations, 1945, available at United Nations (http://www.un.org/en/charter-united-nations/index.html) (17 Aug. 2018).

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51 Kennedy, ‘Murphy, Sheila Geraldine Mary (1898–1983)’ in D.I.B.

52 Kennedy, ‘“It is a disadvantage to be represented by a woman”’, p. 220.

53 Frederick Boland to Sheila Murphy, 28 Jan. 1952 (telegram) (N.A.I., DFA 417/33, part 4); memorandum by Sheila Murphy, ‘Obligations arising out of membership of the United Nations’, 28 Jan. 1952 (ibid.); Political Section memorandum, ‘Ireland's application for membership of the United Nations Organisation’, 22 Sept. 1954 (N.A.I., DFA 417/22, part 6).

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62 Department memorandum for the government, ‘U.N. Convention on the Nationality of Married Women’, 20 Feb. 1957 (N.A.I., DFA 417/166, part 1A).

63 Report from Frederick Boland submitted to the Irish Government, 8 Apr. 1957 (N.A.I., TSCH/S16051A).

64 Cruise O'Brien, The same age as the state, p. 185.

65 Thom's directory of Ireland (Dublin, 1958), p. 140.

66 Ibid., p. 219.

67 Ibid.

68 Ibid., p. 141.

69 Ibid., p. 221.

70 Speeches at the U.N., 1957 (N.A.I., DFA P.M.U.N. no. 196).

71 Cruise O'Brien, The same age as the state, p. 221.

72 Ibid., p. 222.

73 Irish intervention on the agenda of the Third Committee, 2 Oct. 1958 (N.A.I., DFA 313/36/1).

74 Speeches at the U.N., 1957 (N.A.I., DFA P.M.U.N. no. 196).

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76 Skelly, Irish diplomacy at the United Nations, pp 296–7.

77 Interview with Marie Cross (25 Sept. 2013).

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79 Marie Cross, third secretary; Mary Tinney, counsellor; M. Lee, third secretary; Eilis MacCurtain, third secretary; Mary Lorrigan, third secretary; Helen Gavigan, vice-consul in Chicago; and Carmel O'Leary, vice-consul in Boston (see Thom's directory of Ireland (Dublin), for the years 1971–80).

80 Garret FitzGerald to Kurt Waldheim, secretary-general of the U.N., 15 Sept. 1975 (N.A.I., DFA 2006/72/27).

81 Delegation meeting reports, 31st session of the U.N., 1976 (N.A.I., DFA 2006/72/12).

82 Cullen, ‘Women, emancipation, and politics, 1860–1984’, p. 880.

83 Martin Gruberg, ‘Official commissions on the status of women: a worldwide movement’ in International Review of Education, xix (1973), p. 140.

84 Commission on the Status of Women, report to the minister for finance (Dublin, 1972), p. 12.

85 Civil Service (Employment of Married Women) Act (1973/17 (31 July 1973)); Anti-Discrimination (Pay) Act (1974/15 (1 July 1974)).

86 The Department of External Affairs changed its name to the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1973.

87 My thanks to the former Irish diplomats who agreed to be interviewed as part of my research.

88 Interview with Kathleen White (13 Aug. 2013).

89 Ibid.

90 O'Brien, ‘“The special combination”’, p. 249.

91 Ibid., pp 239–40.

92 Gender equality audit, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 16 December 2013, available at Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website (https://www.dfa.ie/media/dfa/alldfawebsitemedia/newspress/publications/2014-Gender-Equality-Audit-DFAT.pdf) (9 Aug. 2018). This article draws on my Ph.D. thesis: “The special combination”. I am grateful to the Irish Research Council for supporting this research.