Suffrage in Ulster

Volunteers were trained in local history and research skills, which included utilising the resources available at the local library and online. They also conducted more detailed research using the information held at the Public Record Office and National Archives in Dublin.
 
Using their newly acquired skills the volunteers researched the history of the local suffrage movement, from the formation of the first suffrage society in Belfast by Isabella Todd in 1876 to the passing of the Equal Franchise Act in 1928, which finally gave women equal voting rights with men. 

Throughout the one-year project, participants also explored the movement’s leading figures, the impacts of the First World War and the introduction and effects of the ‘Cat and Mouse’ Act. The volunteers also used their findings to produce a booklet, an education pack for use by local schools and develop a website to share this untold heritage with wider audiences.   

Joe Baker, on behalf of Glenravel Local History Project, noted: “The local suffragettes are largely forgotten and most people focus instead on their activities in London. At the end of this project we have lots of new material on the local suffrage movement and I think people will find it absolutely fascinating.”