The article examines the inclusion of women's histories in Ireland's Decade of Centenaries commemorations, particularly the 2016 events marking the centenary of the Easter Rising and the twentieth anniversary of the closing of the last Magdalen laundry. It discusses the impact of these commemorations on the historical narrative of the Irish revolutionary period and the broader inclusion of women's experiences, including institutional violence. The article references cultural commentators and memory-studies scholars to highlight the complexities and occlusions in Ireland's commemorative practices and national memory.

On 9 June 1918, tens of thousands of Irishwomen signed a pledge to resist the conscription of Irishmen, as part of a mass mobilization against the British government's attempt to enforce conscription in Ireland. The pledge was a response to the Military Service Bill, which became law on 18 April 1918. Women's Day, organized by the Women’s Day General Committee and presided over by Alice Stopford Green, was marked by various forms of protest, including a general strike on 23 April, led by trade unions and the Labour Party. The Catholic Church played a significant role in mobilizing the masses against conscription. Prominent women activists, including Countess Markievicz, Maud Gonne, and Kathleen Clarke, were arrested under the Defence of the Realm Act. The mass resistance effectively ended active attempts to impose conscription and marked the establishment of women's place in public political activism in Ireland.