Cumann na mBan is Gaelic for Irish Women’s Association was initiated in April 1914 as a women’s auxiliary to the all-male Irish Volunteers. By their 1917 convention, there were more than 100 affiliated branches located across Ireland with well over 600 branches by their second convention in 1918.
These women collected funds to support various causes, particularly the movement of women into parliament to support the women’s suffrage movement. Although most women of the Cumann na mBan remained unarmed during the Rising, some women, occasionally associated in conjunction with other groups, took a more active role.
After the Rising, Cumann na mBan worked to support the Sinn Fein parliament and encourage women like Constance de Markievicz to run for political positions. Despite the landslide win of Sinn Fein in the general election, the Cumann na mBan women were still unimpressed with their work, or lack thereof, towards gender equality
Instead of being seen as an equal, the severe underrepresentation of women in parliament cause the Cumann na mBan was viewed simply as the Women’s Sinn Fein Club. Later, when women were granted the right to vote, Cumann na mBan conventions would become the information center for women to educate themselves on the eligibility requirements and where to vote if you are eligible.
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsDgJirA5ZE