PRESS RELEASE
Tuesday March 6th 2008

Buswell's Hotel -- and the struggle for women's right to education and work! 

In advance of International Women's Day this Saturday, March 8
Commemorative plaque unveiled on the site of the first women's technical training institute in Ireland or Britain
    Remembering the woman who also established Alexandra College, which continues today

At the unveiling in Buswell's Hotel, Dublin, were (left to right) WITS chairperson, Margaret Finlay; Ms Susan Parkes, co-author of a history of Alexandra College, which was founded by Mrs Jellicoe; Dr Norman MacMillan, Carlow Institute of Technology, and editor of Prometheus Fire, a history of scientific and technological education in Ireland; and Minister for Education & Science, Mary Hanafin.

Today it is Buswell's Hotel, but in 1861 it was home to the Queen's Institute, the first technical training college for women in Ireland or Britain.

In recognition, a commemorative plaque was unveiled at the hotel today [Thursday, March 6], remembering Mrs Anne Jellicoe, the institute's prime mover, who also campaigned for women's right to a university education and established Alexandra College for girls, which still survives.  The plaque was unveiled by Minister for Education & Science, Mary Hanafin.

Women in the 1860s did not just want to work as governesses and domestics, they also wanted challenging and interesting careers and the same rights as men.  And the Queen's Institute was the first to address that need -- offering pioneering courses on everything from ceramic work to telegraphy, engraving, and more -- an amazing suite of options for what was probably a comprehensive list of possible employments for women at the time.

The driving force was a radical philanthropist and brave campaigner for women's education and employment: Anne Jellicoe, a Quaker born in Mountmellick, Co Laois in 1823.  Married to John Jellicoe, a mill owner in  Dublin's Harold's Cross, she had a strong social commitment and campaigned to improve pay and  working conditions for women, from factory workers and prisoners, to middle-class educated women, and later campaigned passionately for women's admission to universities.

Speaking at the plaque unveiling, the chairperson of Women and Technology & Science (WITS),  Margaret Finlay, said that Anne Jellicoe laid the foundations of so much of what we take for granted today. "She pushed back the boundaries for women, for what they could do, and what society would let them do, both in terms of employment and education. Every Irishwoman who goes to university today, or works in a 'non-traditional' job, should give thanks to Mrs Jellicoe."

In the 1850s, this entrepreneurial woman had started embroidery and lace schools and exporting businesses in Mountmellick, but moving to Dublin she soon became concerned about the broader lack of education, training, and employment opportunities for middle class women.  The Queen's Institute, which she founded with Miss A. Barbara Corlett, and which lasted for over 20 years, offered not just courses, but also an employment register for women, at a time when universities were still closed to women.  Mrs Jellicoe realised that young women also needed a better education, and in 1866 she founded Alexandra College of higher education for women, which continues today in Milltown, Dublin 6. 

Susan Parkes, co-author of  'Gladly Learn And Gladly Teach', a history of Alexandra College (1866-1966) said that the school was at the forefront of the campaign for women's university education. "In the late 1800s, lecturers from  Trinity College Dublin provided tuition for ladies on the Alexandra campus. And the first women to receive degrees in Ireland or Britain were Alex pupils -- six of them successfully studied at Dublin's Royal University from 1891 and at Trinity College Dublin, once it opened its doors to women in 1903."

Also speaking at the unveiling, Dr Norman McMillan of Carlow Institute of Technology, editor of Prometheus Fire, a history of scientific and technological education in Ireland, and a member of the National Committee for Commemoratives Plaques in Science and Engineering, remarked how, in 1890,  Dublin was again pioneering technical education by offering classes open to both men and women. "Two women had the temerity to enter their name for a course in plumbing. Mrs Jellicoe would surely have approved."

Mr Paul Gallagher, general manager of Buswells Hotel, said the hotel was delighted to formally acknowledge Mrs Jellicoe's great work in developing skills for woman in Dublin in the late 19th-century.  "Buswells has a long and interesting history, and this commemoration is another proud day for the hotel."

The commemorative plaque to Mrs Jellicoe was organised by WITS (Women in Technology & Science), and the National Committee for Commemoratives Plaques in Science and Engineering, and hosted by Buswell's Hotel.

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Pic 1: The Minister and WITS chairperson, Margaret Finlay, with the commemorative plaque

Pic 2: Minister for Education & Science, Mary Hanafin, speaking at the unveiling of a WITS commemorative plaque to Quaker educationalist Mrs Anne Jellicoe in Buswell's Hotel, Dublin

Pic 3: Anne Jellicoe Plaque