Eithne Coyle
Encyclopedia
Eithne Coyle (Irish
: Eithne Ni Cumhaill) was an Irish
republican
activist. She was a leading figure within Cumann na mBan
and a member of the Gaelic League. She would also become notorious for her involvement in two high-profile prison escape
s in the 1920s.
, County Donegal
, to Charles Coyle and May McHugh (the youngest of their seven children). Her brother Donal Coyle served as Commandant in the 1st Northern Division of the Irish Volunteers
. She joined Cumann na mBan in 1917 when the movement was founded and became active in fundraising and anti-conscription campaigns.
for the 1918 general election
. Between 1918 and 1919 she lived for a time in Dungannon
as a Gaelic League organiser before moving to County Longford
to set up Cumann na mBan branches. She subsequently became Gaelic League organiser in County Roscommon
.
During the Irish War of Independence
whilst Coyle was based in the Longford-Roscommon area she became a close comrade of the local Irish Republican Army
, providing them with sketches of a local police station that she knew. Regularly harassed by Black and Tans
in Roscommon, with her house twice wrecked by members of the organisation, she was arrested on New Years Day 1921 and subsequently sentenced to three years penal servitude for aiding IRA members. In keeping with Cumann na mBan policy, she refused to recognise the court during her trial and even sat reading a newspaper as a sign of contempt.
Held at Mountjoy Prison
Coyle and fellow inmate Linda Kearns
hatched a plan to escape from the prison. On 31 October 1921 Coyle and Kearns, along with two other inmates Mary Burke and Aileen Keogh, with help from sympathetic warders, scaled the wall of the prison and escaped in cars driven by republicans who had been instructed to wait outside.
Coyle supported the anti-treaty faction although in this respect she was in a minority within Cumann na mBan. Indeed following the signing of the treaty she toured County Donegal, County Londonderry
and County Tyrone
and found that many of the local branches had lost much of their membership and was forced to reorganise the movement in Ulster
as a more streamlined model.
Coyle also sought to enforce the IRA boycott on Belfast
goods that had passed but which had met with little enthusiasm and the Belfast Telegraph even reported that on the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway
an armed Coyle held up the train from which she removed all copies of Belfast newspapers before publicly burning them. Coyle's activity, which was not sanctioned by Cumann na mBan's leadership, became a regular occurrence on that train line.
During early 1922 Coyle's activities saw her frequently arrested by pro-treaty forces although on each occasion she was released without charge. However in September 1922 the Provisional Government of Southern Ireland
decided to crack down on the activities of Cumann na mBan renegades and Coyle was the first member to be arrested as part of this move. Initially held at Ballyshannon
she created another first there by becoming the Cumann na mBan member to go on hunger strike
, refusing food for seven days as there was no female prison guard. After being briefly detained at Buncrana Coyle was eventually taken to Mountjoy Prison
, some eight weeks after her initial arrest.
By the time Coyle arrived at Mountjoy there were already several Cumann na mBan members in the prison and overcrowding became a problem. Coyle led protests against these conditions, with the women throwing their beds out of the cells and sleeping on the floor. This lasted for six weeks before another hunger strike was begun. Later moved to the North Dublin Union internment camp Coyle was one of twenty female prisoners to escape on 7 May 1923. She was recaptured the following day however.
Coyle, who held socialist opinions, was a founder member of the Republican Congress
in 1934 although on the 18 July that same year she and fellow Cumann na mBan activist Sheila Humphreys
resigned after it became clear that a feud between the IRA factions would follow this move, something both women hoped to avoid.
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
: Eithne Ni Cumhaill) was an Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
republican
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
activist. She was a leading figure within Cumann na mBan
Cumann na mBan
Cumann na mBan is an Irish republican women's paramilitary organisation formed in Dublin on 2 April 1914 as an auxiliary of the Irish Volunteers...
and a member of the Gaelic League. She would also become notorious for her involvement in two high-profile prison escape
Prison escape
A prison escape or prison break is the act of an inmate leaving prison through unofficial or illegal ways. Normally, when this occurs, an effort is made on the part of authorities to recapture them and return them to their original detainers...
s in the 1920s.
Early years
Coyle was born in Killult, a village near FalcarraghFalcarragh
An Fál Carrach , sometimes called Na Crois Bhealaí is a small Gaeltacht town and townland in northwest County Donegal, Ireland. The settlement is in the old parish of Cloughaneely.-Etymology:...
, County Donegal
County Donegal
County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...
, to Charles Coyle and May McHugh (the youngest of their seven children). Her brother Donal Coyle served as Commandant in the 1st Northern Division of the Irish Volunteers
Irish Volunteers
The Irish Volunteers was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists. It was ostensibly formed in response to the formation of the Ulster Volunteers in 1912, and its declared primary aim was "to secure and maintain the rights and liberties common to the whole people of Ireland"...
. She joined Cumann na mBan in 1917 when the movement was founded and became active in fundraising and anti-conscription campaigns.
Growth in the movement
As head of the County Donegal branch of Cumann na mBan Coyle played a leading role in mobilising her members to canvass on behalf of Sinn FéinSinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
for the 1918 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
. Between 1918 and 1919 she lived for a time in Dungannon
Dungannon
Dungannon is a medium-sized town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the third-largest town in the county and a population of 11,139 people was recorded in the 2001 Census. In August 2006, Dungannon won Ulster In Bloom's Best Kept Town Award for the fifth time...
as a Gaelic League organiser before moving to County Longford
County Longford
County Longford is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Longford.Longford County Council is the local authority for the county...
to set up Cumann na mBan branches. She subsequently became Gaelic League organiser in County Roscommon
County Roscommon
County Roscommon is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the town of Roscommon. Roscommon County Council is the local authority for the county...
.
During the Irish War of Independence
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
whilst Coyle was based in the Longford-Roscommon area she became a close comrade of the local Irish Republican Army
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
, providing them with sketches of a local police station that she knew. Regularly harassed by Black and Tans
Black and Tans
The Black and Tans was one of two newly recruited bodies, composed largely of British World War I veterans, employed by the Royal Irish Constabulary as Temporary Constables from 1920 to 1921 to suppress revolution in Ireland...
in Roscommon, with her house twice wrecked by members of the organisation, she was arrested on New Years Day 1921 and subsequently sentenced to three years penal servitude for aiding IRA members. In keeping with Cumann na mBan policy, she refused to recognise the court during her trial and even sat reading a newspaper as a sign of contempt.
Held at Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison , founded as Mountjoy Gaol, nicknamed The Joy, is a medium security prison located in Phibsboro in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. It has the largest prison population in Ireland.The current prison governor is Mr...
Coyle and fellow inmate Linda Kearns
Linda Kearns MacWhinney
Linda MacWhinney , a native of Sligo, was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and nurse.Two days after the insurgents seized the Dublin GPO during the Easter Rising in April 1916, nurse Linda Kearns took over an empty building on North Great George's Street...
hatched a plan to escape from the prison. On 31 October 1921 Coyle and Kearns, along with two other inmates Mary Burke and Aileen Keogh, with help from sympathetic warders, scaled the wall of the prison and escaped in cars driven by republicans who had been instructed to wait outside.
Anti-treaty
Following the Anglo-Irish TreatyAnglo-Irish Treaty
The Anglo-Irish Treaty , officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and representatives of the secessionist Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of...
Coyle supported the anti-treaty faction although in this respect she was in a minority within Cumann na mBan. Indeed following the signing of the treaty she toured County Donegal, County Londonderry
County Londonderry
The place name Derry is an anglicisation of the old Irish Daire meaning oak-grove or oak-wood. As with the city, its name is subject to the Derry/Londonderry name dispute, with the form Derry preferred by nationalists and Londonderry preferred by unionists...
and County Tyrone
County Tyrone
Historically Tyrone stretched as far north as Lough Foyle, and comprised part of modern day County Londonderry east of the River Foyle. The majority of County Londonderry was carved out of Tyrone between 1610-1620 when that land went to the Guilds of London to set up profit making schemes based on...
and found that many of the local branches had lost much of their membership and was forced to reorganise the movement in Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
as a more streamlined model.
Coyle also sought to enforce the IRA boycott on Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
goods that had passed but which had met with little enthusiasm and the Belfast Telegraph even reported that on the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway
Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway
The Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company is an Irish public transport and freight company incorporated in June 1853. Despite its name it operates no railway services. It formerly operated 99 miles of railways but closed its last line in July 1953...
an armed Coyle held up the train from which she removed all copies of Belfast newspapers before publicly burning them. Coyle's activity, which was not sanctioned by Cumann na mBan's leadership, became a regular occurrence on that train line.
During early 1922 Coyle's activities saw her frequently arrested by pro-treaty forces although on each occasion she was released without charge. However in September 1922 the Provisional Government of Southern Ireland
Provisional Government of Southern Ireland
The provisional Government of Southern Ireland was the provisional government for the administration of Southern Ireland between 16 January 1922 and 6 December 1922. The government was effectively a transitional administration for the period between the ratifying of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the...
decided to crack down on the activities of Cumann na mBan renegades and Coyle was the first member to be arrested as part of this move. Initially held at Ballyshannon
Ballyshannon
Ballyshannon is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is located where the N3 and N15 cross the River Erne, and claims to be the oldest town in Ireland.-Location:...
she created another first there by becoming the Cumann na mBan member to go on hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
, refusing food for seven days as there was no female prison guard. After being briefly detained at Buncrana Coyle was eventually taken to Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison , founded as Mountjoy Gaol, nicknamed The Joy, is a medium security prison located in Phibsboro in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. It has the largest prison population in Ireland.The current prison governor is Mr...
, some eight weeks after her initial arrest.
By the time Coyle arrived at Mountjoy there were already several Cumann na mBan members in the prison and overcrowding became a problem. Coyle led protests against these conditions, with the women throwing their beds out of the cells and sleeping on the floor. This lasted for six weeks before another hunger strike was begun. Later moved to the North Dublin Union internment camp Coyle was one of twenty female prisoners to escape on 7 May 1923. She was recaptured the following day however.
Later years
Coyle was elected as President of Cumann na mBan in 1926. She married Bernard O'Donnell, a Donegal IRA man, in 1935.Coyle, who held socialist opinions, was a founder member of the Republican Congress
Republican Congress
The Republican Congress was an Irish republican political organisation founded in 1934, when left-wing republicans left the Irish Republican Army. The Congress was led by such IRA veterans as Peadar O'Donnell, Frank Ryan and George Gilmore. It was a socialist organisation and was dedicated to a...
in 1934 although on the 18 July that same year she and fellow Cumann na mBan activist Sheila Humphreys
Sheila Humphreys
Sheila Humphreys, sometimes known as Sighle Humphreys, was an Irish political activist and member of Cumann na mBan.-Background:...
resigned after it became clear that a feud between the IRA factions would follow this move, something both women hoped to avoid.