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Bold, Brilliant and Bad: Irish Women from History

From every county in Ireland Bold, Brilliant & Bad draws together the stories of over 120 amazing Irish women. Marian Broderick is back to explore the histories of remarkable Irish Women in history. From creative craftswomen to singing sensations, poets to sporting champions. From Lilian Bland to Maeve Binchy and from Anne O'Brien to Professor Sheila Tinney, these women paved the way for the future and made massive changes in their various fields.

Meet the women from history who went against the grain and challenged the expectations of the world. There were and are a force to be reckoned with.

Table of Contents

DID YOU KNOWS page 8

INTRODUCTION 11

WORLD FIRSTS … 13

Lizzie Le Blond 15

Lilian Bland 20

Kay McNulty 24

... AND IRISH FIRSTS 29

Dr Emily Winifred Dickson 30

Beatrice Hill-Lowe 35

Dame Iris Murdoch 39

SPORTING CHAMPIONS 44

Lena Rice 45

Kay Mills 49

Philomena Garvey 52

Anne O’Brien 56

THE LIFE SCIENTIFIC 60

The Honourable Mary Ward 61

Agnes Mary Clerke 64

Dr Dorothy Stopford Price 67

Professor Sheila Tinney 72

WORKING-CLASS HEROINES 76

Winifred Carney 77

Rosie Hackett 82

Margaret Skinnider 86

VOTES! 92

Anna Haslam 93

Eva Gore-Booth 97

Gretta Cousins 102

WOMEN OF FAITH 109

Saint Ita 110

Sister Anthony O’Connell 114

Mother Kevin Kearney 119

Sister Sarah Clarke 124

ACROSS THE SEA 130

Nellie Cashman 131

Amy Carmichael 136

Annie Moore 140

Carmel Snow 144

THE WRONG SIDE OF THE LAW 150

Darkey Kelly 151

Catherine Flanagan and Margaret Higgins 155

Ellen Kelly 160

Josephine ‘Chicago Joe’ Hensley 166

Lizzie Halliday 170

‘Typhoid Mary’ Mallon 174

May Churchill Sharpe 177

POETRY AND PROSE 183

Líadain 184

Laetitia Pilkington 188

Máire Bhuí Ní Laoghaire 195

Máire MacNeill 199

Maeve Binchy 205

ARTS AND CRAFTSWOMEN 210

Eileen Gray 211

Evie Hone 216

Sybil Connolly 220

SING THE OLD SONG 224

Catherine Hayes 225

Margaret Burke Sheridan 230

Maureen O’Hara 235

Kitty Linnane 239

UNHEARD VOICES 243

Ellen Hanley, The Colleen Bawn 244

Elizabeth O’Farrell 250

Bridget Hitler 254

Margaret Hassan 259

GAELIC BLUEBLOODS 263

Devorgilla 264

Aoife 269

Margaret of the Hospitalities 273

Nuala O’Donnell 276

GLOSSARY AND SOURCES 286

WOMEN BY COUNTY 295

INDEX OF WOMEN 299

PICTURE CREDITS 303

304 pages, Paperback

Published November 10, 2018

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About the author

Marian Broderick

22 books4 followers
Marian Broderick is a freelance editor and a writer. Marian lives and works in London. Her parents are Irish and therefore all her childhood summers were spent in Ireland.

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5 stars
12 (22%)
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23 (42%)
3 stars
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Profile Image for Teresa.
806 reviews231 followers
January 14, 2019
This is a great read. There were so many wonderful (and not so wonderful) Irish women that I hadn't heard of. It's very well written with short concise pieces on each woman and these are divided into different chapters with different headings.
Very enjoyable for people who love history and have an interest in human behavior written in an easy style.
Profile Image for D.
151 reviews2 followers
January 6, 2019
Great book to dip into with a wide ranging selection of women included
Profile Image for ★.
12 reviews
March 30, 2026
Very easy and digestible, reminiscent of "Goodnight stories for rebel girls" I had when I was younger, but for an older reading range. All in all very informative and fun to read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews