merrion street

Jimmy Deenihan TD, the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, will this evening unveil a plaque at Wynn’s Hotel, Dublin 1, to mark the centenary of the inaugural public meeting of Cumann na mBan.

Cumann na mBan was formed in Dublin in 1914, as a women's nationalist organisation which would work alongside the Irish Volunteers formed in 1913. On the 2nd April 1914 the inaugural public meeting of Cumann na mBan was held in Wynn's Hotel. It was presided over by Agnes O’Farrelly who was elected president.

The provisional executive unveiled at the meeting included; Jennie Wyse Power, Nancy ORahilly, Agnes MacNeil, Mary Colum, Nurse McCoy, Margaret Dobbs, Louise Gavin Duffy and Elizabeth Bloxham.

In advance of the plaque unveiling, Minister Deenihan commented:

“Wynn’s Hotel holds a unique place in Irish history, being the location where the decision was taken to establish the Irish Volunteers, and where Cumann na mBan held its inaugural meeting a few months after. Following on from yesterday’s commemoration ceremony in Glasnevin Cemetery, it is appropriate that we would mark this inaugural meeting, and take a moment to reflect on the tumultuous events that brought our State into being and the men and women who were such forces for change.”