Edition Bobbett2. Speeches and statements by Elizabeth F. Bobbett

1938 Fethard, Meeting of the Irish Farmers’ Federation

Source: Irish Examiner, 21.02.1938

Miss Elizabeth Bobbett, General Secretary Irish Farmers’ Federation, speaking at a meeting under the auspices of the Federation in Fethard, Tipperary, to-day, said Mr. Eamon de Valera at the Dublin Chamber of Commerce dinner expressed the hope that vocational industries would organise so that they could tell the Government what they wanted. That was the aim of the Farmers’ Federation, to unite all branches of agriculture so that they could place their grievances before the Government, and tell them what they wanted. Dr. James Ryan said in Wicklow that the only cure for the farmers was to work harder and produce more. How could they if they had not the money to buy seed wheat or a few cows or sows.

Speaking of the farmers’ losses, Miss Elizabeth Bobbett said what were they to do if young farmers went to England. They were fit for nothing but work on the land, and that in England was considered the lowest form of employment. Englishmen would not take the kind of work Irishmen do when they go there. That was the reason Irishmen were so welcome in England. Outlining the aims of the organisation the speaker said it was the farmers who should be advising the Minister for Agriculture what remedies should be taken to improve agriculture, instead of having Civil Servants telling the farmers.

About the digital edition

This volume of Elizabeth F. Bobbett’s writings and speeches is divided into four parts. The first section comprises 321 texts written by her. The second part contains 150 speeches and statements by Bobbett, most of which were published in newspapers. Part 3 contains 727 texts written about Bobbett by contemporaries of her or addressed to her. Finally, Part 4 is a collection of 50 source texts that are important for understanding Elizabeth F. Bobbett’s activism. Parts 3 and 4 will be made available online in March 2027.

Suggested citation

Elizabeth Bobbett: Speech in Fethard, Meeting of the Irish Farmers’ Federation, 1938, in: Peter Moser (ed.), In her own Words. The Writings of Elizabeth F. Bobbett (1898-1971). Farmer, Feminist and Public Figure, Bern, 2026, https://www.histoirerurale.ch/editions/pages/bobbett/1938-02-21-412.html, consulted on .

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