1918 Election Centenary: women voting in the West

14 December 2018 is the 100th anniversary of what was probably one of the most significant elections in Irish history. On Saturday 14 December 1918 the electorate on the island of Ireland, expanded from c.700,000 to over 2 million due to the Representation of the People Act (1918), went to the polls in what was the only 32-county general election. It was significant also because it was the first time women (over 30) were granted the right to vote to elect members of parliament and to be candidates in such elections. To mark the occasion Mary Clancy from Global Women's Studies in the School of Political Science and Sociology and Marie Boran, Special Collections Librarian, have collaborated on a visual display which tells the story of some of the women who campaigned in Galway and the West of Ireland for women's right to vote. The display will run on the Hardiman Building foyer video wall from 14-21 December. Please do drop by to view it.