An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir March 2019 www.dfmagazine.ie 38 | documented level of co-operation between CnamB and the Irish Women Workers' Union who managed a co-operative at Liberty Hall. According to Phyllis Morkan, CnamB members were ordered not to wear uniforms or badges for mobilisation on Easter Sunday 1916. In civilian clothes, female combatants could move through military cordons and intermingle with crowds more freely. During Easter Week, Margaret Skin- nider donned her uniform while sniping from the roof of the College of Surgeons but while on dispatch-carrying mis- sions, wore her civilian clothes. During the War of Indepen- dence and Civil War, CnamB's regular appearance at public processions and republican funerals left members vulner- able to detection and ultimately led to the abandonment of the uniform for everyday activities in provincial regions. BADGES: One of the most arresting of CnamB insignia are the small badges worn by its members (Fig. 2). Made initially of base metals, later of silver and gold, their design was not only radical but also aesthetic, cleverly intertwin- ing the initials of the organisation with the motif of a rifle. As such, the badges announced that women were not only going to resist British rule but were prepared to bare arms in so doing. Given that the wearing of uniforms was neither compulsory nor practical, CnamB did not adopt a set of insignia. However, when worn with the uniform, the placement of the badges appears, at times, to have been an index of rank. Worn independently of the uniform, they were discrete and useful for identifying members up to and including the 1916 Rising. However, as the War of Indepen- dence unfolded, the wearing of the badges, like uniforms, was undoubtedly restricted and thus confined to official and ceremonial occasions. The first mention of these badges dates from 5th Sep- tember 1914 when the CnamB column in the Irish Volunteer reported that 'the badges of the organisation can be had from Tempest, Dundalk, price 6d'. These early examples (Fig. 2, A1) are clearly identifiable, in that they were all manufactured by the printing firm of William Tempest in Dundalk, Co. Louth (founded 1859). Tempests' had also begun trading as Dundalgan Press from 1907 and the latter moniker is neatly stamped on the reverse side of each of these badges. By 1918, it is apparent that Tempests' were not the sole purveyors of CnamB badges. Post 1916, a number of repu- table jewellers and independent silversmiths in Dublin and Cork had begun manufacturing openwork varieties of the badge, albeit with the same design elements – Gaelic-style lettering, a rifle, and an interlaced shoulder strap. However, the type of rifle depicted began to vary (Fig. 2, compare A1 and B1). Using these variations, the present authors have developed a classification scheme for the badges. Four major types have been identified to date, and the prelimi- nary typology is being published in the quarterly magazine Archaeology Ireland (Wordwell Books). The rifle on the Dundalgan Press badges (Fig. 2, A1) has a bolt-action, a pistol grip on the stock and a long barrel. While some writers have suggested that it is a representa- tion of a German Mauser, it is in fact a very realistic depic- tion of the War Office Patent (WOP) Miniature Rifle. Up to 20,000 of these .22 calibre weapons were manufactured under licence by BSA, Birmingham and LSA, London, be- tween 1906 and c.1916. They were designed specifically for training young civilians and cadets in the use of bolt-action service rifles. As the weapon gracing the earliest CnamB badges, the symbolism behind their choice is intriguing: a modern lightweight weapon indicating the intent of women to train in the use of firearms? The second rifle of choice for the CnamB badges was the Lee Enfield, specifically the SMLE (short, magazine, Lee Enfield). Introduced in 1903, it became the standard service rifle of the British Army in WW1 and is depicted on many badges in loving detail (Fig. 2, B1). Its choice not only pro- vides us with an index of badge date – possibly post 1916 – but originally must have signified something more: perhaps the coming of age of CnamB as a fully-fledged revolution- ary organisation? FLAGS: CnamB effectively wielded propaganda to their advantage throughout the Irish revolutionary period. The organisation produced and amassed a wide variety of ephemera, which grew to include badges, rosettes, ribbons, posters, banners, handbills and flags. The earliest newspa- per evidence for the first public unfurling of a CnamB flag was during the Annual Wolfe Tone Commemoration at Bodenstown on 20th June 1915 by CnamB Central Branch: 'The two Dublin Branches of Cumann na mBan were over Fig. 2: Subtypes A1 and B1 Cumann na mBan badges – approx. 5.4cm in length. Photo courtesy of Kilmainham Gaol Archives, KGM 2012.0248 and KGM 2011.0389.09. Fig. 3: Cumann na mBan Central Branch pictured with flag at the Annual Wolfe Tone Commemoration, Bodenstown, 20 June 1915. Those present include Jenny Wyse Power, Sorcha MacMahon, Mimi and Fiona Plunkett, Kathleen Clarke and Rose McGuinness. Photo courtesy of National Library of Ireland, NPA CNB.

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