‘It is to be assumed that members of C. na m Ban cannot be kept out of such a body!’: women, Irish republicanism, and prisoner support work 1939–45

The historical consensus on Cumann na mBan, Ireland’s republican women’s organisation, suggests that by the period of the Second World War (or Emergency as it was known in independent Ireland) it was largely inactive. This article explores the organisation’s activity in this period, framing it as part of the group’s post-revolutionary afterlife. Through consideration of Cumann na mBan’s records, state records from the Department of Justice and newspaper material this article considers the work of Cumann na mBan and other republican women in support of prisoners and their dependents.