Individual research

Ask your teachers and local historians for:

• the names of persons in your area who were involved in the suffrage campaign
• details of research to date on the suffrage movement in your area
• likely topics for your own research.

Research the local newspapers and other publications for:

• their response to the suffrage campaign locally
• reports of meetings, demonstrations, performances, imprisonment, etc. in your area
• Local Government election campaigns and results
• Parliamentary election campaigns and results.
• You may find it useful to target important events and dates, using this text, timeline and other secondary sources as guides.
• Research the topic on the Internet. A search for women's suffrage movements in the UK and the USA in particular will result in a large amount of material.
• Interview older women and men. They may be able to share interesting stories, experiences and attitudes towards women's suffrage with you.
• Collect old letters, diaries, messages, photographs, membership forms, medals, uniforms, newspaper clippings, etc. and make a display for the public.
• Collect relevant local stories, novels, songs, ballads, photographs, pictures, drawings, etc. and publish or display your findings.

A directory of sources for women's history in Ireland is a very useful website listing primary sources for the history of women in Ireland. It contains information and descriptions of over 14,000 collections and 262 repositories. It is also available on CD ROM

Women's suffrage campaigns in Ireland and England were interlinked in many ways. Refer to Internet sites such as Spartacus: Emancipation of Women 1750-1920 and BBC: Women's history for further information on the campaigns in England.

Use the website Genesis to research the history of women more comprehensively.

The Field Day anthology of Irish writing, Vols. IV & V: Irish women's writing and traditions is a comprehensive collection of texts written and spoken by and about women from the very earliest manuscripts down to the present day. It contains a wealth of primary sources and with scholarly introductions on the one hand and detailed notes on the other hand, is approachable by all.

Field Day anthology of Irish writing, Vols. IV & V: Irish women's writing and traditions, Cork, 2002.

Publish and/or exhibit your findings.

Some of the information you find may be very important or it may be interesting or colourful but if you do not publish it in some way, it may be lost for ever, so do consider a publication, an exhibition or a performance.