MTU Library Catalogue

Syndetics cover image
Image from Syndetics

Rocking the system [electronic book]: fearless and amazing Irish women who made history / Siobhan Parkinson

By: Parkinson, Siobhán [author].
Material type: materialTypeLabelBookPublisher: Dublin : Little Island Books, 2017Copyright date: ©2017Description: online resource (xiv, 194 pages).Content type: text Media type: computer Carrier type: online resourceISBN: 9781912417438 (paperback); 9781912417087 (e-Book).Subject(s): Women -- Ireland -- Biography | Ireland -- History -- 20th century | N-TUTORRAdditional physical formats: Print version: Rocking the system: fearless and amazing Irish women who made historyDDC classification: 920.7209415 Online resources: Access eBook Also available in print form.
List(s) this item appears in: MTU Universal Design Collection
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Status
eBook MTU Online eBook 920.7209415 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Twenty illustrated essays on Irish women, historical and contemporary, who have defied cultural norms around femininity and achieved great things. The subjects include Irish women from Queen Medb to Eileen Gray, from Constance Markievicz to Sonia O'Sullivan, covering stateswomen, artists, writers, activists and rebels of all kinds.

Also available in print form.

Electronic reproduction.: ProQuest LibCentral. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Universal Design Collection

N-TUTORR

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

There is an old saying that goes: 'The hand that rocks thecradle rules the world.' This is supposed to mean that womenhave all the power. (Yeah, right!) When Mary Robinson wonthe presidential election in 1990 and became Ireland's firstfemale president, she said that the women of Ireland, in votingfor a woman with her kinds of views, had, instead of rockingthe cradle, 'rocked the system'. That is of course where we gotthe title for this book, which celebrates how Irish women havemade a difference to Irish life over the years - and, in manycases, the centuries. The Irish people voted for a woman to be President of Irelandin the last decade of the 20th century, but in the first decadeof that century, having a woman in that kind of position wouldhave been unthinkable. Women could not even vote at thattime, not to mind become president. It is only because womenlike Countess Markievicz and Hanna Sheehy Skeffingtonfought so hard for it (along with suffragettes in Britain) thatwomen got the vote in 1918. That was an important landmark in Irish women's history, but the struggle for women's rights is stillgoing on in modern Ireland. Not all the women discussed in this book would think ofthemselves as feminists. But all of them, from Queen Medhbh,who led an army into battle, to Lady Gregory, who co-foundedthe Abbey Theatre, to Mainie Jellett, who introduced Irelandto Modernist art, to Sonia O'Sullivan, who is a record-breakingathlete, have done amazing things in their fields, and shownthat women, like other humans, can achieve wonderful things.But very often they achieve these things in spite of the way theworld is designed - mostly by and certainly for non-women. There are politicians and artists, warriors and campaigners,creators and do-ers, rockers of cradles and non-mothers too inthis book. All of them had to struggle, in one way or another,to achieve what they have achieved. Many of them are or wereeducated women who had the good fortune to come fromprivileged backgrounds. They were able to become politicallyactive or pursue artistic ways of life mainly because they didnot have to hold down jobs or bring up families on low incomes.Poorer women had and still have it much tougher. But even themost privileged among these women had to fight for what theywanted, simply because they were women and had lower statusand less freedom than men. They are or were all brave and dedicated.The number of them who were imprisoned, for example,for their beliefs and political actions is remarkable. We have taken a largely historical approach in this book andhave chosen to include here women who have had full careersover the years and many achievements. Today's younger womenwill, we know, be appearing in books like this in future decades.We also look forward with great excitement to seeing womenfrom immigrant communities that have arrived more recentlyin Ireland emerging as rockers of the system too. Rock on, women. Ireland has need of you. Excerpted from Rocking the Systems by Siobhán Parkinson All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Bren Luke was born and raised in Victoria, Australia. He studied Fine Art at Ballarat University, majoring in painting and printmaking and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. For the past decade or so, Bren's work has been focused on traditional drawing techniques primarily using pen and ink. Siobhán Parkinson has been writing for children since the early '90s and has published more than thirty books. She has won numerous awards and her books have been translated into multiple languages. She currently works as the publisher at Little Island Books. She was Ireland's first Children's Laureate.