Radical Women: How Female Leaders of the Ladies' Land League Battled Political, Economic, Religious, and Gender Inequality to Fight for Irish Land Reform

This thesis examines the impact the Ladies’ Land League and its leaders Anna and Fanny Parnell had on the Irish nationalist movement. Evidence used includes newspapers, the correspondence of key actors, documents from religious and state-level archives, legal records, Fanny’s literary and political writings, and Anna’s memoir. The focus is Dublin in 1880-1882, when male leaders were in prison and the Ladies’ Land League took over all organizational and political decision-making for the movement against landlordism, which was a forerunner to first home rule and then Irish Independence. Despite their hard work, once the male leaders left prison, the women lost their leadership role. Fanny died and Anna quit the movement due to frustration. Nevertheless, despite their short-lived time in leadership, they helped thousands of tenant farmers and promoted radical economic policy, advocating for the non-payment of rents rather than just delaying payment. They did all of this despite facing organizational, religious, and political obstacles.