Rocking the System: Fearless and Amazing Irish Women who Made History.

by Siobhán Parkinson, Bren Luke (Illustrator)

These 20 illustrated essays are on Irish women, historical and contemporary, who have defied cultural norms around femininity and achieved great things. The subjects include Irish women from Queen Medhbh to Eileen Gray, from Constance Markievicz to Sonia O’Sullivan, covering stateswomen, artists, writers, activists, and rebels of all kinds. This book is published to celebrate the centenary of women’s suffrage, and Irish women’s remarkable achievements over the centuries. 

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Ireland, Feminism

194 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2019

About the author

Siobhán Parkinson is an Irish writer for both children and adults. Siobhán grew up in Galway and Donegal. Her books have won numerous awards and have been translated into several languages. She is currently a co-editor of Bookbird, the magazine of international children's literature organsation IBBY. She resides in The Republic of Ireland with her husband Roger Bennett and son Matthew.

Reviews

[Alice-Elizabeth (Prolific Reader Alice)]

A fantastic history book for all readers celebrating great Irish women throughout history. Loved the illustrations throughout!

[Mairead]

A lovely read with interesting choices

[Eileen O' Flaherty]

Loved this! Like an episode of the history chicks but for Irish women.

[Conor Lynch]

Leabhar an-spéisiúil!

[Natasha]

Excellent! A super book to have in your arsenal when teaching Irish history and one I'll be using when I teach in the older classes 🤞

[Maggie Walsh]

A great anthology of Irish women who blazed a trail. It's shocking but a lot of these women I wasn't aware of, why aren't we learning about the achievements of women in school? All Irish people should read this book.

[Heidi]

This is an engaging and informative book which introduced me to many influential Irish women leaders (past and present). It does act as an introduction and left me wanting to read more about many of them or engage with their work/art. I liked the design and the timelines included in each section.

[Mary]

Get this book for all ya girls.