We do not want contraception, abortion, divorce, homosexuality, secular schools or any of the trappings of an uninspiring secular Ireland.
So summed up the politics of Úna Bean Mhic Mhathúna in a letter to The Irish Times on 4 May 1976.
Una pictured in The Irish Independent, June 10 1986.
Una*, along with her friend and fellow campaigner Mena Cribben, is another colourful character in the world of reactionary Irish politics. She has been a dominant figure for over forty years as a founding member of Mna na hEireann (c. 1972 – late 1970s) and the Irish Housewives Union (c. 1980 – early 1990s). She has also been active with the Council for Family Rights (1980s), the Anti-Abortion Campaign (1983), the No Divorce Campaign (1996/97), Friends of Youth Defence (1990s) and Cóir (2000s).
Una grew up in Gurranabraher on the north side of Cork city. Her brother Larry White, a leading local activist with Saorise Éire (offshoot of Saor Éire), was shot dead by the Official IRA in 1975.
Una’s mother Mrs. Mary White was also a devout Catholic as this 2001 obituary illustrates:
Solas (Youth Defence magazine). July 2001.
Una married Seamus, a renowned folk singer from West Clare who has worked with Conradh na Gaeilge and Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, in the late 1960s.
Along with Áine Ní Mhurchú, Una formed Mná na hÉireann (‘Women of Ireland’) in 1972 to fight against “the legalisation of contraception, abortion and divorce.” In an interview with Irish Times journalist Mary Leland the following year, Una proclaimed that:
a handful of women in Dublin … claim to be speaking for the majority of women in Ireland we believe that it’s not a majority opinion at all. The same number of women are always involved, and some of them, the most vociferous are foreigners.
Una also spoke fondly of “when Ireland was truly Ireland when we had our own language, culture and religion (and when) we were a moral nation”. She told the journalist that “abortion and contraception, as far we’re concerned, are one and the same” and went on to say:
We don’t believe that anyone makes the conscious decision to to use artificial contraception; they do it under the pressure from propaganda. If they were to make a conscious decision they would have to know all the aspects of whatever method they were using and therefore they would be making a conscious decision to kill a child. And that’s murder.
Letter to the Irish Times. 25 Oct 1973.
In April 1974, Mná na hÉireann distributed leaflets outside Catholic Churches in Cork which proclaimed that “Ireland could easily support 40 million people and that the Billings method of Birth Control was 100% sure and safe”. It transpired that some local parish priests had given the group permission to distribute the leaflets and put up posters.
A description of the group in The Irish Times, 31 Dec 1975.
In April 1975, the group had to be “curbed” after making an intervention at a conference entitled “Women’s Role in Irish Society” planned by the Cork Federation of Women’s Organisations. Christina Murphy, Woman’s Editor of The Irish Times, summed up the group’s politics as being against “obscenity, contraception, abortion, ‘so called’ women’s liberation, masturbation and mothers working outside the home”. Una and others called Women’s Lib activists “fornicators”, “dirty sluts”, “tarts” and “filthy bastards who should never get married”.
In February 1976 at a Speakers Club discussion at University College Cork, Mná na hÉireann made an intervention in which they accused the Catholic Church of “encouraging permissiveness by not preaching against fornication anymore”. Una stated during the debate that she was “not surprised that the call for abortion came from Trinity College where contraceptives were freely available and (where) students were pressurised into having sex by the family planners”.
On RTE’s programme ‘Corkabout’ that same month Una admitted that she believed that “the primary function of women is childbearing”.
In January 1982, Una along with another mother and close friend Mena Cribben were refused an injuction in the High Court when they sought to restrain the Department of Education from questioning their children or canvasing their opinions without the consent of the parents.
A letter from Una’s daughter Sile (using home address) to The Irish Press. Aug 18, 1982. 1/2.
A letter from Una’s daughter Sile (using home address) to The Irish Press. Aug 18, 1982. 2/2.
That same year, she wrote to Charles Haughey to denounce “typical career women”, family planning clinics, sex education and mistresses.
In October of that year, Una was in the newspapers again when she was involved in disrupting a meeting organised by the pro-choice Northside Anti-Amendment Group outside the Black Sheep pub in Coolock, Dublin. The meeting was supposed to be held inside the pub but the management canceled at the last minute after pressure from pro-life individuals. Twenty people heckled, sang, shouted and generally disrupted the meeting which was attended by eighty other people.
In May 1986, Una and her husband Seamus failed in the High Court to have the Divorce referendum postponed on the grounds that it would interfere with a case that they began two years ago alleging that various law weakened the family. Their case failed again in February 1988.
In February 1992, Youth Defence was founded in Una’s family home by her daughter Niamh and a number of other young pro-life activists.
Una and her husband appealed the High Court decision, regarding the supposed discrimination towards married mothers relating to tax and welfare, in July 1994 but were dismissed by the Supreme Court.
Una and family pictured in the Irish Independent, July 15 1994.
Una is probably best known for her classic one-liner in 1995 at the referendum count of the Divorce referendum. During the heated post-voting atmosphere, she shouted at the victorious campaigners: “G’way ye wife-swapping sodomites“. It was caught on camera but I don’t believe it has made it onto Youtube yet.
Irish Times. July 6, 1996.
In November 1997 Una along with Peter Scully of Family and Life accompanied to court the parents of a 13 year old rape victim who was in the care of the Eastern Health Board. Their appearance in the case came at the same time that the Father of the victim changed his mind and told the court he did not believe an abortion was the right decision for his daughter.
Una spoke in 2007 at the inaugural meeting of the West Cork branch of the Parents For Children (PFC) Campaign. She was described in Youth Defence’s magazine, Solas, as a “family rights campaigner”.
In September 2009, it was revealed that she was involved in the Coir campaign for a ‘No’ vote on the Lisbon Treaty.
–
*Various versions of her name that have come up in the papers include: Una Mhic Mathuna, Una Bean Ui Mathuna, Bn. Mhic Mhathúna Una Bean Mhic Mhathuna and Bean Una Mhic Mhathuna.
Click on the book for more.
Click on the book for more.
Donal
Ciarán
Sam
Come Here To Me! 
Reblogged this on Bank Holiday Tuesday and commented:
Really interesting piece about one of the big mommas of conservative activism in Ireland- You can take my life, but you can never take my right to TOUCH MYSELF.
Great article. There are a lot more off the wall catholics like her about than people think. I know one guy with a huge mailing list that covers the whole country. He sends them messages from Their Lady that he gets from a visionary over the internet.
“Una also spoke fondly of “when Ireland was truly Ireland when we had our own language, culture and religion”
Er..”our own” religion? Does she think Rome is just off the M50 and Nazareth is behind the Pro Cathedral?
Brilliant.
There’s also piece on Niamh Ui Bhrian (nee Mhathuna) and Ide in this week’s Phoenix.
P.
One of Niamh Nic Mhathúnas election leaflets from her 1992 General Election Campaign.
http://irishelectionliterature.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/niamh-nic-mhathuna-of-youth-defence-independent-dublin-central-1992/
(your more than welcome to add the images to the post)
Reblogged this on Insane Mutterings and commented:
A very interesting overview of one of the most active campaigners against social reform in this country.
Nice post. Woman is bonkers, but unfortunately there are tons of these people peddling their bonkery here and abroad.
One point of information, though — although the Irish Times picture of darling Una might have been published in July 1996, the date of the divorce referendum was in November 1995.
I have the Phoenix article but it’s in a PDF and I can’t upload it.
Very good article. What a spooky family. I note that they only had three children. Was there perhaps a reason why there arent many many more? How does some one practising the ‘pull out now darling’ method only end up with three?
You might be glad to hear that they went onto have another seven children! So 10 altogether.
They’re creepy and they’re kooky…
Fanatical and loopy…
They’re altogether ooky….
The Mhahúna Family…
Heard a story that Youth Defence used to be run from above a pub on Thomas St. This pub was also a drinking spot for a few Saor Eire veterans. Anyway one day the SWP decided that they were going to raid the Youth Defence office. In they arrived but were soon beaten out of the place by Saor Eire veterans armed with pool cues. That is one strange battle of the left
I was on the demo. It was actually organised by DL Youth, just a march, no intention of raiding the place. Some thugs did come out and attack us but it wasn’t completely one sided. Willie Ryan, the pub owner & SE vet got thumped and his brother got a good kick in the balls from an SWP member. Ryan went back into the pub and emerged with a pickaxe handle. My name appeared to be written on it so I ran at that stage.
Not someone whose opinions or activities I would choose to defend but is she cause or effect?
I would say both, really?
[…] and make contraception freely available will never forget this woman and here partner in crime Una Bean Mhic Mhathuna COIR & Youth Defence would not exist without them. Reply With […]
She’ll be missing her comrade in arms Mina Ui Chribin who died 8/8/12. Another nastry piece of work . I remember Una having an argument with another women on radio, going on and on as usual and the other women quietly asked “why are you so unhappy” Well! it was like a red flag to a bull – but so obviously true. “I’m very happy” she screamed. “Very, very happy” trying to convince herself yet not one photo exists of her smiling.. Look it up, plenty of photos but no smiles.
People who are content never feel the need to ram their opinions down other peoples throats. They aren’t driven by the jealousy fuelled vengeance that drives extremist crawthumper Catholics like Mean-Ban-CribbAlot.
Amazing how the shinners have managed to keep these people well hidden all this time.
A taste of the Ireland that offers prayers instead of medical intervention for pregnant women.
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One thing that scares me about this family is that their kids are also part of the same right wing anti progressive thinking and actively fight against contraception etc.