Item 156 - The Shan Van Vocht

pp 161-180; printed

A copy of ‘The Shan Van Vocht’ Vol. 1, No. 9 (4 September 1896).

‘The Shan Van Vocht’ literary magazine was first published in Belfast in 1896 and was founded by two feminist writers, Alice Milligan (1866-1953) and Anna Johnston (1866-1902), the latter better known by her pseudonym ‘Ethna Carbery’. The journal published a wide-ranging mix of poetry, serialized fiction, articles on Irish history, and political treatises. The magazine was also notable for publishing the early writings of James Connolly. Milligan and Carbery also edited, managed, and contributed to the publication, which remained in circulation until April 1899.

The magazine’s title is a phonetical rendering of ‘An tSean Bhean Bhocht’ (‘the Poor Old Woman’), a traditional Irish song dating to the period leading up to the 1798 Rebellion. The original song specifically refers to the abortive French expedition to Bantry Bay in County Cork led by Theobald Wolfe Tone in December 1796. The ‘Sean-Bhean Bhocht’ was later extensively used as a female personification of Ireland by many cultural nationalists.