Nell McCafferty, a founding member of the Irish Women's Liberation Movement, died at a nursing home in Co Donegal today, Wednesday, August 21, her family has confirmed. She was 80 years old.
McCafferty, born and raised in the Bogside area of Co Derry, is remembered today for her fierce activism and outspokenness on matters surrounding inequality and injustice.
After receiving a degree from Queen's University Belfast and a brief stint teaching, McCafferty turned to journalism, first writing for The Irish Times, and later The Irish Press, Hot Press, and other publications.
As a founding member of the Irish Women's Liberation Movement, McCafferty took part in the 'Contraceptive Train' in May 1971 which saw nearly 50 members of the movement take the train from Dublin to Belfast where they could purchase contraceptives that were still illegal to purchase in Ireland.
Meet the woman who smuggled birth control into 1970s Ireland on a ‘contraceptive train’ https://t.co/hlh0TxRSGT pic.twitter.com/PVAXrAeAp6
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) March 9, 2023
McCafferty's activism continued and she emerged as a prominent voice in Irish issues, including women's rights, The Troubles, and abuse within the Catholic Church.
McCafferty went on to author several books, including "The Armagh Women," "A Woman to Blame - The Kerry Babies Case," and her memoir "Nell."
In 1980, McCafferty began a relationship with fellow journalist Nuala O'Faolain that would last for 15 years. The relationship, however, was complicated, with Susan McKay, now Ireland's Press Ombudsman, describing the duo in 2008 as "the best known closeted lesbian couple in Ireland." McCafferty later told The Guardian: "It's a love story, a love story that failed." O'Faolain died in 2008.
According to The Irish Times, a funeral for McCafferty will be held at St Columba's Church, Long Tower, Co Derry this Friday. A private cremation will take place afterward in Lakelands Crematorium, Co Cavan.
Tributes to McCafferty have been widespread on Wednesday.
Taoiseach Simon Harris described McCafferty as "fierce, fearless, and fiery. If she was in the room or in the debate, you knew about it.
"Her passion and wrath was not scattergun, it had a laser-like focus on calling out inequality and injustice. She suffered no fools but had a kindness and warmth for many. Her wit and Derry turn of phrase made her impossible to ignore."
He added: "In an Ireland trying to emerge from the shadows and find who it was, Nell McCafferty was one of the people who knew exactly who she was and wasn’t afraid to enter every battle for gay and women’s rights. We all owe her a great debt for this.
"Nell McCafferty left Ireland a much better place than she found it and she played her part with spirit and style."
President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins said in part: "Nell had a unique gift in stirring people’s consciousness, and this made her advocacy formidable on behalf of those who had been excluded from society. A defining feature across Nell’s life was such a fierce drive to tackle repression, poverty and authoritarianism wherever she saw it."
Michelle O'Neill, the First Minister of Northern Ireland, said McCafferty was "a trailblazer in every sense of the word" and "a proud feminist, and a civil rights campaigner who used her voice to promote equality and fight injustices in our society."
I want to express my deep sadness at the death of former journalist, author and campaigner Nell McCafferty today.
Nell was a trailblazer in every sense of the word. A proud feminist, and a civil rights campaigner who used her voice to promote equality and fight injustices in… pic.twitter.com/sg8hLAk4kh
— Michelle O’Neill (@moneillsf) August 21, 2024
In a statement, the National Women's Council of Ireland said: "We are all indebted to Nell.
"She was unafraid to name injustice wherever she saw it, and at times she was deeply unpopular for it. But her work paid dividends.
"Nell, and many others like her, helped shape the Ireland we live in today – a country which is more equal, less ashamed, and where women are freer to live the lives we deserve."
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