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Born 1934 London Known for actress, writer, playwright and activist Books Non-Stop Connolly Show, Tell them everything Similar Aisling Brady McCarthy, Thomas Murphy (Irish republican), Brian Brendan Wright | ||
What do you love about your life margaretta d arcy
Margaretta Ruth D'Arcy (born 1934), an Irish actress, writer, playwright, and peace-activist. Margaretta is a member of Aosdána since its inauguration and is known for addressing Irish nationalism, civil liberties, and women's rights in her work. In 2014, she was imprisoned after she refused to sign a bond saying that she wouldn't trespass on non-public parts of Shannon Airport. Her arrest was a consequence of trespassing on airport property during protests over United States military stopovers at Shannon Airport.
Contents
- What do you love about your life margaretta d arcy
- Margaretta d arcy talking about her protest at shannom
- Activism
- Imprisonment
- Affiliations
- Books
- Plays
- Films
- References
Margaretta was born in London to a Russian Jewish mother and an Irish Catholic father. D'Arcy worked in small theatres in Dublin from the age of fifteen and later became an actress. Married in 1957 to English playwright and author John Arden, they frequently collaborated. They settled in Galway and established the Galway Theatre Workshop in 1976. The couple wrote a number of stage pieces and improvisational works for amateur and student players, including The Happy Haven (1960) and The Workhouse Donkey. She has written and produced many plays, including The Non-Stop Connolly Show.
D'Arcy has also written a number of books, including Tell Them Everything, Awkward Corners (with John Arden), and Galway's Pirate Women: A Global Trawl.
Margaretta d arcy talking about her protest at shannom
Activism
As an activist, in 1961, D'Arcy joined the anti-nuclear Committee of 100, led by Bertrand Russell.
Jailed in the H-block in Northern Ireland, her book Tell Them Everything tells the story of her time during the H-block protests.
D'Arcy also directed a film Yellow Gate Women, a film about the attempts by women of Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp to outwit the British and United States Military at RAF Greenham Common with bolt cutters and legal challenges.
Challenging censorship since 1987, she ran a women's kitchen pirate-radio from her home in Galway.
In 2011, D’Arcy refused to stand for a minute’s silence in honour of catholic PSNI officer Ronan Kerr - who was killed by dissident republicans - at a meeting of the artists body Aosdana. Her actions were deliberate, she told media afterwards, which attracted fierce criticism of her perceived support for armed republican groups in Northern Ireland.
Along with Niall Farrell, she was arrested in October 2012 for scaling the perimeter fence of Shannon Airport, in protest at the use of the airport as a stopover for US military flights.
Imprisonment
In January 2014, D'Arcy, who is 80 years old and currently undergoing cancer treatment, was sentenced to three months in prison for the 2012 protest at Shannon. John Lannon of Shannonwatch called on President Michael D. Higgins, a friend of D'Arcy's family, to intervene in the case. She was offered an opportunity to avoid prison if she signed a bond not to trespass on parts of Shannon Airport not open to the public but she refused.
Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has called for her release: “Successive governments have failed to inspect any planes in Shannon and have allowed the continued militarisation of a civilian airport. Rather than addressing these issues, the state has focused its efforts on arresting and jailing a 79-year-old woman." Independent TD Clare Daly who along with Mick Wallace attended her trial also called for her release. Daly, at a protest rally in Dublin, said her behaviour in court was a model for activists.
Affiliations
Books
Her books include;
Plays
Her plays include;
Plays devised as group productions include;
Plays written in collaboration with John Arden include;
Films
Films as a director and those produced by Women in Media & Entertainment;