Digital Editions

Edition Bobbett2. Speeches and statements by Elizabeth F. Bobbett

1938 Rathdrum, Irish Farmers' Federation Demonstration

Source: Irish Press, 09.12.1938

They were taking part in a demonstration organised by the Irish Farmers' Federation. Some carried banners inscribed with demands for "immediate derating and justice for farmers." Miss Elizabeth F. Bobbett, federation county secretary, told them: "The question is: Are you prepared to take strike action if the other counties decide to take the same course, and sit at home and buy and sell nothing for a month?" "Live on potatoes and milk, and if you have a sheep or a pig kill it and share with the neighbours who may not have one." She said that the Limerick farmers were prepared for a sit-down strike, and that farmers in Kildare and Louth were considering strike action. "If we do not take some definite action soon, we will be starved out ourselves, instead of our starving out others," Miss Bobbett asserted.

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 Rathdrum, Irish Farmers' Federation Demonstration, 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/1938-12-09-420.html, consulted on .

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