1
This is the last will &
testament of me, Constance
de Markievicz. I leave to my husband
Casimir de Markievicz the
sum of £100 pounds, to
my stepson Stanislas de
Markievicz the sum of £100
to Bessie Lynch who lived
with me £25 Everything else I possess,
to my daughter,
Medb Alys de Markievicz Constance de Markievicz
written in the presence of
Michael Mallin
M. ffrench Mullen April 30 1916
2
Will of Countess Markievicz drawn up in the College
of Surgeons on 30th April 1916 : Witnessed by
Michael Mallin and by Madeline ffrench Mullen Presented to the OConnell
School museum by
Doctor K.Lynn
Countess Constance Markievicz (1868-1927) was a militant republican, a labour activist,
a suffragist and a politician. She was an executive member of the radical women's
nationalist movement Inghinidhe na hÉireann, the nationalist Boy Scouts movement Na
Fianna Éireann, the Irish Neutrality League, and the revolutionary socialist movement
the Citizen Army. During Easter Week of 1916, Markievicz served as second-in-command
of the St. Stephen's Green Citizen Army garrison. In 1918, she became the first woman
to be elected to the British parliament, and in 1919, she became the second woman
in Europe to serve as a cabinet minister.
This document is last will and testament written by Markievicz at the end of Easter
week in the Royal College of Surgeons as her garrison was surrounded by British troops
and she faced the possibility of imminent death. The will was witnessed by Michael
Mallin and Madeleine ffrench-Mullen.