Powerful Irish Women: Countess Markievicz

Constance was born in London in 1868 to a wealthy Anglo-Irish family at a time when almost all wealthy families in Ireland were Anglo-Irish. She was brought up in Lissadell House in Co. Sligo. Constance and her sister, Eva, were friends with Ireland’s beloved national poet W.B. Yeats. Also a Sligo native, Yeats often visited Lissadell; his interest in arts, poetry, literature, and culture left an impact on her, and Yeats mentions her in some of his poems. Discover more about the inspiring Sligo region by reading our travel guide here.

Constance trained as a painter, studying at the prestigious Académie Julian in Paris, where she met fellow artist Casimir Markievicz, whom she subsequently married, becoming Countess Markievicz. They had one daughter, Maeve.

Caring deeply for the poor and underprivileged, Constance was sympathetic to the revolutionary movements across Ireland in the early 1900s. Aching to support Irish people in gaining their freedom, she became actively involved in politics by 1908. She became a founding member of three key political organisations: Cumann na mBan (The Irish Woman’s Council), the Irish Citizen Army, and Fianna Éireann (the Fianna of Ireland).

Constance also advocated for people experiencing poverty and set up soup kitchens in Dublin. She was well known and greatly loved in poor and underprivileged communities, where she was referred to as “Madame.”

Countess Markievicz knew her contemporary and another influential female figure of the west, Lady Gregory. Both friends with the poet Yeats, Lady Gregory once said after an encounter on a train with Countess Markievicz: “There was something gallant about her. We were each working for what we believed would help Ireland, and we talked together.” (Lady Gregory, 1927, courtesy of Lissadell House).

Constance died in 1927, aged 59, following an unsuccessful appendicitis surgery. She was admitted, on her insistence, to a public ward in a Dublin hospital and died among the poor, surrounded by family and Irish political leaders – much the way she had lived her life. Her funeral was widely attended, and hundreds of thousands thronged the streets of Dublin to say a final farewell to “Madame,” the brave and courageous Countess who had inspired millions.

Her beautiful childhood home, Lissadell House, in Co Sligo, commemorates her life and legacy and is a lovely spot to visit on the west coast.