Bronze statues of two female icons of Irish nationalism have been unveiled at Belfast City Hall to mark International Women’s Day.
Anti-slavery campaigner Mary Ann McCracken and suffragist and trade unionist Winifred Carney were honoured on Friday, becoming the first non-royal women to get statues in the grounds of city hall.
They are also the first memorials added to the grounds since the Operation Banner Memorial in 2013.
Crowds gathered in the grounds as actors from the Kabosh Theatre Company dressed in character as Mary Ann and Winifred and spoke about the women being honoured.
Belfast’s lord mayor Ryan Murphy and sculptors Ralf and Naomi Sander were among those to attend the event.
Mr Murphy said the statues were in honour of “two absolutely fantastic Belfast women”.
“With today being International Women’s Day it seemed really appropriate for the unveiling,” he said.
“It is about who those women were, inspirational leaders, campaigners, socialists, abolitionists.
“They really will inspire a new generation of people to go out and continue that fight for equality and women’s rights.”
Gerry Murphy from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions addressed the crowds and described the statues as “important recognition of two of the most important female historical figures in our city”.
International Woman's Day is celebrated by the unveiling of statues of two historic women activists Mary Ann McCracken and Winifred Carney at Belfast City Hall, this special event was attended by INTO Official Kevin Daly and Moira O'Kane. pic.twitter.com/aOo3VwlII7
— INTO-NI (@INTO_NI) March 8, 2024
Ms Carney, who died in 1943, was a suffragist, trade unionist and Irish republican.
Born in Bangor, but raised on the Falls Road, she was in charge of the women’s section of the Irish Workers Textile Union before becoming a friend and personal secretary to James Connolly.
Together they both worked for conditions of factory women in Belfast, and later Carney joined Cumann Na mBan, the women’s auxiliary of the Irish Volunteers.
She was present with Connolly at the General Post Office during the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916.
She stood for parliament as a Sinn Féin candidate for Belfast Victoria in the 1918 General Election and later was a member of the Labour Party and the Belfast Socialist Party.
Mary Ann McCracken was a Belfast-born businesswoman, social reformer, anti-slavery campaigner, and supporter of the United Irishmen.
Born in 1770 into a liberal Presbyterian family of Scottish and French Huguenot heritage, she managed a successful muslin business, led the Women’s Abolitionary Committee in Belfast during the height of the anti slavery movement.
She also formed the Ladies Committee of the Belfast Charitable Movement and was dedicated to the poor of the city from her youth.
A founding member of the Belfast Harp Society, she was also the sister of Henry Joy McCracken, a founder of the United Irishmen, and took care of his daughter after his execution in 1798. She died in 1866.
