Women and Peace

The period known as the Troubles affected almost everyone living here, and many more from further afield. 

Women’s experiences during the conflict can be viewed from many perspectives: as community workers, healthcare professionals, politicians, active participants in violence and as mothers or daughters. A recent acquisition to our collection tells the story of a group of women in Andersonstown who chose to campaign for a cause they believed in: peace.

On 10th August 1976, Anne Maguire and her four children were walking along Finaghy Road North. A car driven by IRA member Danny Lennon was being chased by British Army troops. The Army opened fire, killing Lennon, and the car subsequently swerved onto the pavement, crashing into the Maguire family. Three young children Joanne, Andrew and John Maguire were killed and their mother Anne took her own life four years later.

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The event sparked a movement, led by Anne’s sister Mairead and Betty Williams, a local woman who witnessed the crash. The Community for Peace People was established along with journalist Ciaran McKeown and led rallies marching for peace. The organisation continues today, dedicated to ‘building a just and peaceful society through nonviolent means.’ Mairead and Betty were awarded the Noble Peace Prize in 1976. 

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In Andersonstown, local people had taken up the cause to advocate for an end to the violence on their streets. The tragedy of the Maguire family had shocked the community, and women in the area wanted change.

Patricia Donnelly had been recently widowed in 1975, and her house became one of the places where friends and neighbours came together to form a group dedicated to fighting for peace.

"There was a strong belief that any one of them, or their own children could have been a victim, so indiscriminate had the violence become." 

Patricia’s daughter, Rose

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This banner, which Patricia and her family donated to the Ulster Museum, was created as a recruitment tool to encourage membership and was carried on marches across Northern Ireland. The group marched alongside people from across the political divide, united in their aim of bringing about an end to violence. 

"My father, his brothers and the other husbands had all marched for civil rights but the women had, in the main, remained at home and looked after the children. The Peace People Movement opened a door for ordinary women in Andersonstown to have a voice and this was powerful." 

Patricia’s daughter, Rose

Some of the women faced disapproval for their participation and for stepping out of the home into the public sphere. On one occasion when the Andersonstown Group and the Shankill Road Group met to march together, they were heckled by onlookers.

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Twenty-two years later, the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement was signed. The path towards peace was not always easy, and the work of local communities was a vital part of the journey. This banner reminds us of the bravery of those women in 1976, and the many people before and after them who worked hard to create a peaceful future here.