‘The Typist with the Webley’ – Winifred Carney to be remembered in Belfast
1916 Rising volunteer Winifred Carney is to be commemorated in Belfast this week with a gathering at Milltown Cemetery on Saturday at 1PM.
The Irish Citizen Army Volunteer, who hailed from the Falls Road, is well known for the role she played during Easter week at the side of James Connolly, and was said to be armed with ‘a typewriter and a Webley revolver’ as they entered Dublin’s GPO.
Nicola Nic Gabhann, who is organising the event on behalf of Lasair Dhearg said, “Alongside Delia Larkin, Winnie founded the Irish Textile Workers’ Union in Belfast in 1911, aligning with and becoming a sister organisation to Connolly and Larkins Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union. By 1912 she would come to lead the organisation as its secretary, working to win women into the ranks of the union. It was here that she met James Connolly.”
“During the Dublin Lockout of 1913, she was instrumental in fundraising for the striking workers, and it was during the following year that she, along with nine others, founded Cumann na mBan – where she went on to gain a reputation as a first aider and a proficient sharpshooter.”
“By 29 years of age, the 1916 Rising was afoot, and Winnie, now Connolly’s personal secretary, held the rank of Adjutant in the Irish Citizen Army.”
“In the days before the Rising she worked late into the night at Liberty Hall preparing mobilisation orders and officersʼ commissions for the Irish Citizen Army. On Easter Monday, as hundreds of women and men made preparations to seize positions across Dublin, she typed out the mobilisation orders for the four city battalions of what was now the unified Army of the Irish Republic. The following days would go down in the history books.”
“After the Rising and the execution of several prominent organisers, Winnie refused to ever trade on her relationship with Connolly, and was determined never to romanticise the events of 1916. Resolute in her principles she always argued that, given the circumstances, the Rising had been the right thing to do.”
“She found herself on the right side of history after the treaty, as she sided with the anti-treaty forces, being arrested on a number of occasions, and eventually interned in Armagh Gaol. An outspoken critic of the Free State, she remained politically active in the face of attacks from both unionist gangs like the ‘Dawson Bates Drumming clubs’ and the might of the catholic Church.”
Nicola added, “Winifred Carney died on the 21st of November 1943 – she was a suffragist, a teacher and a trade unionist, a member of Cumann na mBan and the Irish Citizen Army.
“Join us to remember Winnie and the role she played in the fight for Irish freedom, this Saturday at 1PM, at the gates of Milltown Cemetery.”
ENDS