Since the 19th century, women in Northern Ireland have been building bridges by setting aside religious and political affiliations to work together to assert their civil rights and challenge laws that restricted their freedoms, focussing on issues regarding women’s education, married women’s property rights and voting rights. From local to national levels, this co-operative characteristic of the women’s movements continued into the 20th century with suffragism, trade unionism and, eventually, the peace movement of the 1960’s onwards.
The HerStory project was sparked by a timely conversation at the United Nations back in 2019, when Herstory CEO & Project Curator Melanie Lynch recounted: “I met with Ireland’s Ambassador to the UN Geraldine Nason-Byrne who told me that the role of women in the Northern Ireland Peace Process is a key United Nations case study. I reached out to our school contacts and they confirmed that this essential story is not taught on the official school curriculum in Northern Ireland or the Republic. I felt it was time to write “herstory” into history.”
“Largely missing from Troubles’ history, religious women deserve recognition for being party to the difficult and dangerous work within working class communities that noted international peacebuilders credit with preventing the Troubles from degenerating into civil war. One of the projects that came to my attention was the Dance Beyond Hate, a project conceived by Sister Deirdre Mullan, a member of the Sisters of Mercy.”
Recently, Sister Deirdre was contacted by Naomi Long MLA and asked to be part of the new story-telling exhibition including the pivotal role that women and women religious played in the Northern Ireland Peace Process.
In particular, Sister Deirdre was asked to provide the background story to the Dance Beyond Hate, a project she initiated through a grant she received from the Ireland Fund, facilitated by Mr Maurice Hayes, the Derry City Council, and the Northern Province of the Sisters of Mercy. Thanks to the meticulous record keeping of Miss Margaret O’Hara of Thornhill College photographs and a record of the project were located.
The Thornhill College Yearbook, 1997 – 1988, records:
“Thornhill College and Faughan Valley High School were invited to Aras An Uachtaráin by the President of Ireland Mary McAleese. President McAleese was hosting an all-Ireland Schools Encounter and was interested to learn about the two schools’ bridge-building efforts and invited the cast to perform in front of representatives of all schools in Ireland.”
The Dance Beyond Hate was performed by an all-girls cast and explored the themes of identity, fear, cross-community work, war and peace and trust-building through the medium of dance. Using symbols, music and movement, the dance tells the tale of two tribes who live separately, each dominated by their own culture, flags and tradition. The dance was performed for the public in both the Guildhall and the Rialto Hall.
Sister Deirdre’s work was recognized at an exhibition launched by MLA Naomi Long on International Peace Day, September 21st, at Northern Ireland Government Buildings, Belfast.
This exhibition focused on about 28 peace heroines of Northern Ireland (as well as six international peace heroines) and included a section on religious women’s efforts towards peace during the Troubles. The text of this panel reads:
Working at the margins of society, religious women were rooted within working-class areas. A quiet spiritual presence, reinforced by institutional resources and a degree of authority, they rebuked brutality and supported the non-violent majority’s struggle to survive. Largely missing from Troubles’ history, these women of different persuasions and denominations built and were part of networks of community activists determined to secure peace. Their approaches and contributions were various, illustrated by the different, innovative ventures they established, including WAVE (Widows Against Violence Empowered); the Currach Community, Cornerstone, Women of Faith, the Dance of Co-Existence project and Dance Beyond Hate. Through both presence and activism, they became a factor in creating the climate on the ground and the depth of communications between the warring parties that facilitated reconciliation.
The description of the Dance Beyond Hate and Dance of Co-Existence reads as follows:
In 1998, The Dance of Co-Existence project, co-ordinated by Sr. Deirdre Mullan of the Sisters of Mercy, brought together teenagers from ‘both sides of the divide’ (Protestant and Catholic) to look at each other’s history and culture and express their differences and understandings through dance. This group of young people was invited to perform in Dublin for the President of Ireland and representatives from all second-level schools in Ireland.
Deirdre Mullan rsm
Northern Province
