Smashing Times: Walking Through Women’s History (1916-1923), A guided walking tour through Rathmines and Ranelagh
Smashing Times: Walking Through Women’s History (1916-1923), A guided walking tour through Rathmines and Ranelagh
October 17 @ 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm IST
This walking tour explores the architectural and social landscape of Rathmines and Ranelagh through the lives of four revolutionary women — Constance (Countess) Markievicz (1868–1927), Dr Kathleen Lynn (1874–1955), Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, and Grace Evelyn Gifford Plunkett (1888–1955) — who lived, worked, and resisted in Rathmines and Ranelagh during Ireland’s struggle for independence from 1916 on.
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Full Event Details
This walking tour explores the architectural and social landscape of Rathmines and Ranelagh through the lives of four revolutionary women — Constance (Countess) Markievicz (1868–1927), Dr Kathleen Lynn (1874–1955), Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, and Grace Evelyn Gifford Plunkett (1888–1955) — who lived, worked, and resisted in Rathmines and Ranelagh during Ireland’s struggle for independence from 1916 on.
Blending storytelling with site-specific reflection, the tour visits key locations connected to these women, revealing how homes, churches, and streets became backdrops for radical action, cultural resistance, and feminist legacy. Participants will be invited to reflect on how these women’s contributions are remembered (or erased) in our built environment, and what it means to reclaim their stories as part of Ireland’s Future Heritage.
This 60 minute guided walking tour brings to life the invisible heritage of women’s activism, placing it within the physical and civic architecture of Dublin. It asks: What histories are we preserving? Whose voices are missing from the buildings we pass every day? In highlighting these figures, the tour reclaims space for a more inclusive, living heritage. The tour stops historic homes, churches and civic landmarks and ends with a reflection on women’s representation in public memory and space.
Notable women from Irish history who lived in Rathmines and Ranelagh are:
• Constance Markievicz (1868-1927) was an Irish politician, revolutionary nationalist, suffragette and socialist. Constance owned Surrey House on Leinster Road, Rathmines, which was used as a training base for Na Fianna before 1916. Constance becomes the first woman elected to the British House of Commons and first female Cabinet Minister in Europe. Her advice to young women, ‘’leave your jewels and gold wand in the bank and buy a revolver’’.
• Hanna Sheehy Skeffington (1877 1946) was a radical activist, feminist, pacifist and human rights campaigner and one of Ireland’s foremost suffragettes.
• Dr Kathleen Lynn (1874–1955) lived and practised as a GP at 9 Belgrave Road, Rathmines from about 1904 onwards and served as Chief Medical Officer for the Irish Citizen Army in the 1916 Rising. Dr Lynn later co-founded St Ultan’s Hospital on Charlemont Street with Madeleine ffrench Mullen (1880–1944) who lived with Kathleen at Belgrave Road, Rathmines.
• Grace Evelyn Gifford (1888-1955) was born and raised in Rathmines. She studied at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art and worked in Dublin as an illustrator and caricaturist. Grace was a supporter of Irish independence. She married Joseph Mary Plunkett, a signatory to the 1916 proclamation in Kilmainham Gaol shortly before his execution for his role in the 1916 Rising.
Open House Dublin
This walking tour is presented as part of Open House Dublin, a free festival of architecture taking place across the city and county from 11-19 October 2025. The festival offers a diverse and exciting range of building tours, talks, lectures, workshops, and a dedicated weekend for children and young people, Open House Junior. Open House is intended to welcome people into buildings and spaces, making architecture accessible and encouraging conversation and curiosity about the city and the built environment. This year, as we celebrate the 20th edition of Open House Dublin, our focus is on the theme of Future Heritage. This theme is shared by our Open House Europe colleagues in 2025.
Organisations Involved / Partner Organisation(s):
