IRISH WOMAN LEADER

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 154, 17 March 1923, Page 15

IRISH WOMAN LEADER

EXPLOITS IN THE REBEL CAUSE. Miss Mary Comerford is one of the new women Republicans whose aggressive methods have overshadowed women like Miss MacSwiney and her sister- She behoves not only in preaching war against the Free State, like her comrades of the Cumann Na Mban (Society of Women), but in practising it on her own account, writes the Dublin correspondent of the “Daily Mail.” When arrested with a party of Irregulars engaged in burning railway stations, she was armpd with a revolver. Interned in Mountjoy Gaol, Miss Comerford promptly organised a revolt of the other Women imprisoned for political offences, smashing fittings wholesale and wrecking a good deal of Government’ property. At present she is in solitary confinement.

There have been rumours that ehe is to be court-martialled for carrying a revolver without authority—an offence punishable with death. So far no evidence is forthcoming to support those rumours. It is highly improbable that the Government has any intention of taking drastic action against women Republicans, well knowing that to do so would not only give stimulus :o the Cumann Na Mban, but would have a disastrous reaction on public opinion.

Dublin knows Miss Comerford as a nondescript, figure who, though still in the twenties, looks about middle-aged in a short black frock that/seems like a relic of the Victorian era.

A Magnetic Personality. Hopelessly unfashionable, as she pedalled through tho streets on her bicycle, glancing neither to right nor left, one would take her for a devoted parish mother rather than a dare-devil revolutionist. She can put her case effectively, though she is demure, not flamtoyant. Unlilie most of her fellows, she is not fond of airing her principles in general company. Yet she has the power of galvanising apathetic Republicans into active fighters, and few did as much as she to keep disheartened flying columns in the field. “We must cultivate the offensive spirit,” was \her favourite phrase during the last few monthsLegends have begun to cluster around her name. A good many are pure inventions. Miss Comerford had not a few wild adventures, find more than once bullets have missed hoi by inches. Her real service to her calico lay less in her contribution to tho fijihtii.g than in her gift of inspiring W JII K people of both sexes with the s pmt of resistance. She was a vary close friend of Erskine Childers and his wife, and it is the Childers tradition witch she has done her best to maintain.

PICKLED ONIONS. Choose small onions, soak them in salted water for three hours, and then peel them carefully. Put them into large jars with enough white vinegar to cover, 1| teaspoonfuls of white pepper and a good pinch of ground ginger to each jar. Tie down and let them stand for three days. Pour off the vinegar, boil it, and pour again over tho onions. When quite cold, cover tho jars and store away»