Laying the groundwork for more to follow

Mother Teresa once said: “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” International Women’s day got us in Irish Country Living thinking about the pioneering women that were the first to break through glass ceilings in Ireland. The lists were endless so we focused on what we feature in the paper every week from farm advocacy to sport and entertainment. And here they are.

Having served in several positions over her over 25-year tenure in the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), Elaine Farrell is considered to be one of the most well-connected senior staff members in the organisation’s professional staff structure. She was the first woman to be hired into the IFA executive structure in the 1990s. Responsibilities include liaising with Oireachtas members, retail and co-ordinating Brexit activities for the organisation. A second string to her first’s bow – she was also the first female president of the Agricultural Science Association (ASA). Her term of office was 2008-2009.

Gaelic football referee Maggie Farrelly started off refereeing local Cavan underage matches but was asked to join the Ulster Referee Academy in 2011, the only woman of 16 referees. Her list of firsts in the game include being the first woman to officiate a men’s game at Croke Park as a sideline official in 2014. She was also the first woman to referee a men’s intercounty match in 2015 when Fermanagh played Antrim in the minor championship and the big one – she referred her first senior men’s intercounty game, a McKenna Cup tie between Fermanagh and St Mary’s in 2016.

Jump jockey Rachael Blackmore’s success at the highest level of horse racing is unprecedented. It is still rare for a female to turn professional – even Nina Carberry and Katie Walsh didn’t take this decision. She was the first woman to win the Conditional Riders title in 2016-17 which is for less-experienced professional jump jockeys starting out on their careers. She was also the first female jockey to win a Grade 1 hurdle race at the Cheltenham Festival thanks to her success on Minella Indo in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle in 2019.

Although stepping back in time, Irish Country Living puts a lot of emphasis on health – both physical and mental. It is therefore appropriate to call out Dr Eleonora Fleury who was the first female medical graduate of the Royal University of Ireland (formally taken over by the National University of Ireland and Queen’s University Belfast in 1908) where she graduated in 1890 with first-class honours. At this time a high number of the graduates from the University were females as Trinity College Dublin didn’t accept female students until 1904. On the mental health side, Dr Fleury specialised in psychiatry and was the first woman member of what is now known as the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

A “first” and still an “only”, Catherine Buckley, then just 29, was elected unopposed as the first female president in the history of Macra na Feirme back in 2007. The Cork accountant has yet to have another woman follow in her footsteps, although as the National Council of the organisation is balanced with a 50:50 gender ratio, there are several women in the ranks well capable of taking up the mantle in the future to represent the 10,000 rural members of the organisation.

Although Averil Deverell and Francis Christian Kyle made history by becoming the first two women to take their call to the Bar in 1921, it was 1963 before Eileen Kennedy, a solicitor from Co Monaghan, became the first appointed female district court judge in Ireland. This was such a novelty that reportedly court rooms were packed out for days with people coming to witness a lady judge presiding. In 1967, Kennedy was appointed by the then-Minister for Education Donogh O’Malley to chair a committee examining the reformatory and industrial school systems. Her report came to be known as The Kennedy Report. The recommendations which included matters relating to the Magdalene Laundries were unfortunately not acted upon.

In 1999, Gráinne Dwyer was the first woman in Ireland to be awarded a Nuffield Scholarship.

This travel scholarship, which supports individuals with leadership potential in the agricultural industry is won through a process of interview. Her study topic looked at the role of women in agriculture.

She travelled to Norway, France, New Zealand and Australia to research her subject. Grainne is now communications and events manager with Animal Health Ireland (AHI) and dairy farming with her husband Jim in Co Laois.

Philomena Begley from Galbally, CoTyrone, was the first Irish woman to perform on the famous Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. She achieved that accolade in 1978 when she was invited by the legendary Porter Wagoner to sing on the Opry, the most famous show in country music. Philomena, who is still performing regular shows around the country and overseas, resides with her husband Tom Quinn at the family home and farm in Pomeroy, Co Tyrone.