Mary Kenny

Irish journalist, writer and feminist activist

Mary Kenny (born 4 April 1944) is an Irish journalist, broadcaster and playwright known for expressing conservative opinions. In 1970, she was a founding member of the Irish Women's Liberation Movement, being regarded in her early career as one of the country's earliest and foremost feminists, but her opinions eventually changed substantially. A contributor to the Irish Independent, she is based in England.

Quotes

edit
  • [On the "contraceptive train" episode] I knew that this was something which had to be done, because it would make a point dramatically, sensationally, even historically. I was also wretched about doing it. I knew how upset my mother would be – how mortified to see her daughter in the headlines, even identified as a ringleader, in a stunt which involved buying French letters in Belfast.
    • Something of Myself And Others, Dublin: Liberties Press (2013), p. 153
  • Yes, a musical entitled The Train has for its theme that notorious contraceptive train which ran from Belfast to Dublin in 1971 and is to open next week in Dublin.
    I participated in that original stunt, but I have declined any further connection with the performance in question and chosen not to appear on any radio or television programme associated with it.
    I do not endorse Rough Magic's enterprise in turning this episode into a musical, because, for me, it is not the way to explain the historical context of birth control in Ireland - and elsewhere.
    I also feel that an experience which belongs to my life has been stolen. It is for me to tell my story, at least while I am alive, not others.
edit
 
Wikipedia
Wikipedia has an article about: