Constance Markievicz was born in London in 1868, although her family home, Lisadell, was in County Sligo, Ireland. She was a childhood friend of Yeats and was featured in his poems “In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz” and “Easter 1916.” For me, as a voracious reader, it’s been fascinating to read about places, people, and historical events and to subsequently visit the places featured in poetry, prose, and historical texts. In this way, the literature, so much of which features the events surrounding the Easter Rising, has come alive.

On the 1916 walking tour, it was eerie to see the grapeshot at the GPO. These physical scars on the landscape reinforced the historical reality of what occurred. Although I could envision the battle taking place at St. Stephen’s Green where Constance Markievicz was a sniper during the Easter Rising, seeing her name on the intake registry at Kilmainham Gaol reinforced the reality of her involvement and the consequences of her choices. A portion of the entry that describes her crime reads as follows:

Did attempt to cause disaffection among the civilian population of His majesty.

As I toured Kilmainham Gaol, it was surreal to see the jail cell in which Constance Markievicz was held. Initially, she was sentenced to death, but she had her sentenced commuted to life imprisonment because she was a woman. She was released from prison in 1917 and continued to support the cause of Irish Freedom.

The sentence portion of her registry entry reads as follows:

Death

commuteth to Penal Sentence for Life