Elizabeth O'Farrell and the surrender of 1916
On the afternoon of Saturday 29 April 1916, a nurse walked out of Moore Street under a white flag to the British barricade. Elizabeth O'Farrell's errand brought the Easter Rising to an end. For decades, though, she was almost invisible in the story, and in one widely reproduced photograph of the surrender she was literally removed.
Early life
Elizabeth O'Farrell was born in Dublin on 5 November 1884 and grew up in the city. As a young woman she joined Inghinidhe na hÉireann, the women's nationalist organisation founded by Maud Gonne, together with her close friend Julia Grenan, who remained her companion for the rest of her life. Both later became members of Cumann na mBan. O'Farrell trained as a nurse and midwife.
Inghinidhe na hÉireann
The organisation O'Farrell joined had been founded in 1900 by Maud Gonne and other women who were excluded from most nationalist bodies of the time. Inghinidhe na hÉireann (Daughters of Ireland) ran free classes for children in Irish, history, music and dance, organised protests against recruitment into the British army, and staged plays and tableaux that fed into the Irish theatre revival. From 1908 to 1911 it published Bean na hÉireann, a monthly paper edited by Helena Molony that combined nationalism, feminism and labour politics. The group's members included many of the women who were later active in 1916, and in 1914–15 it became a branch of Cumann na mBan.
Easter Week
Before the Rising, O'Farrell carried dispatches for the leadership to Volunteers outside Dublin. During Easter Week she was in the GPO, where she and other women nursed the wounded and carried messages through the streets under fire. When the burning GPO was evacuated on Friday 28 April, she was among the small group of women who stayed with the headquarters party as it moved into the houses on Moore Street, along with Julia Grenan and Winifred Carney.
Carrying the surrender
By Saturday the position in Moore Street was hopeless, and civilians were being killed in the streets around it. Patrick Pearse and the other leaders decided to seek terms. O'Farrell volunteered, or was chosen, to carry the message. She went out under a white flag to the British lines and was taken to Brigadier-General W. H. M. Lowe, who sent her back with a demand for unconditional surrender. After several journeys between the two sides, Pearse surrendered to Lowe at the top of Moore Street that afternoon, with O'Farrell beside him.
She then carried copies of the surrender order, signed by Pearse, with notes added by James Connolly and later Thomas MacDonagh, to other garrisons still fighting, including the Four Courts and the Royal College of Surgeons, crossing the city on foot under military escort. At several posts the men refused at first to believe that the order was genuine.
The photograph
A photograph taken at the surrender shows Pearse facing General Lowe. In the original, O'Farrell's skirt and feet can be seen beside Pearse, partly hidden by him. When the picture was published in newspapers afterwards, she had been edited out of it, and for many years versions without her were the ones most people saw. The cropped photograph has since become a symbol of how women were written out of the history of the revolution.
After the Rising
O'Farrell was briefly held after the surrender and then released. With Julia Grenan she later wrote an account of the events of Easter Week, which helped establish the details of the surrender. She remained a committed republican, opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty, and supported the anti-Treaty side in the Civil War. She worked for many years as a midwife in Dublin, including at the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street.
She died on 25 June 1957 and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery. Julia Grenan was buried with her when she died in 1972.
Remembering Elizabeth O'Farrell
Interest in O'Farrell grew around the 1916 centenary, as the release of pension files and witness statements brought the role of women in the Rising into much wider view (see women in the 1916 Rising). Her story is often used to show both the range of what women did during Easter Week and the way their contribution was later overlooked. Her own account of the surrender, and her pension file, remain the starting points for anyone researching her life.
Sources and further reading
- Dictionary of Irish Biography (Royal Irish Academy): "O'Farrell, Elizabeth".
- Military Service Pensions Collection (Military Archives): pension file of Elizabeth O'Farrell.
- Bureau of Military History witness statements (Military Archives): witness statements describing the surrender.
- Sinéad McCoole, No Ordinary Women (O'Brien Press, 2003).
- Lucy McDiarmid, At Home in the Revolution: What Women Said and Did in 1916 (Royal Irish Academy, 2015).
Frequently asked questions
Who carried the surrender in 1916?
Elizabeth O'Farrell, a nurse and Cumann na mBan member, carried Patrick Pearse's request for terms to the British on 29 April 1916 and then delivered the surrender order to other garrisons.
Why was Elizabeth O'Farrell removed from the surrender photograph?
When the photograph of Pearse surrendering was published, the image was altered so that she no longer appeared beside him; her feet are visible in the original.
When did Elizabeth O'Farrell die?
On 25 June 1957. She was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.
Who was Julia Grenan?
Elizabeth O'Farrell's lifelong friend and companion, a fellow member of Inghinidhe na hÉireann and Cumann na mBan who was with her in the GPO and Moore Street.