Journalist, author and trailblazing feminist Nell McCafferty has died. She was 80.
Her family confirmed her death this morning at a nursing home in Co Donegal.
McCafferty was born in Derry in 1944 to Hugh and Lily McCafferty and grew up in the Bogside. She was among the early cohorts of Catholics admitted to Queen’s University in Belfast, where she studied arts and got involved in civil rights politics. She spent time teaching briefly before beginning her journalism career in The Irish Times.
[ Nell McCafferty at 80: ‘Celebrating eight decades of enduring courage’Opens in new window ]
She was a founding member of the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement and found her voice writing on women and women’s rights, poverty and social injustices in the Ireland of the late 1960s and 1970s.
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Her noted works include the book A Woman to Blame, on the Kerry babies case. Other books included The Armagh Women on woman republican prisoners and their hunger strikes in Armagh jail; Peggy Deery: A Derry Family at War; her autobiography, and a collection of her writings, Goodnight Sisters: Selected Writings of Nell McCafferty.
In tributes to mark her 80th birthday in March, published in The Irish Times, President Michael D Higgins said those who had “had Nell as a friend and an ally are very fortunate in their being given the gift of experiencing humanity in all its possibilities and vulnerabilities, and delivered as she did it with a sense of humour that paid tribute to the authenticity of her Derry upbringing”.
On the news of her death, Mr Higgins said she was “a pioneer in raising those searching questions which could be asked, but which had been buried, hidden or neglected. Indeed, this is one of the aspects which was most remarkable from the very beginning in her work”.
“Sabina and myself were privileged to be friends of Nell and to have experienced her enduring strength, courage, warmth and humour. She will be deeply missed by us all,” she said.
Taoiseach Simon Harris paid tribute to McCafferty’s “laser-like focus on calling out inequality and injustice”.
“She suffered no fools but had a kindness and warmth for many. Her wit and Derry turn of phrase made her impossible to ignore,” he said in a statement. “Nell McCafferty left Ireland a much better place than she found it and she played her part with spirit and style.”
The North’s First Minister, Michelle O’Neill, paid tribute to McCafferty as a “trailblazer” and a “towering figure” in Irish journalism.
“She eloquently spoke up for disadvantaged women through her work with the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement, particularly highlighting the poverty and injustices women faced in the late 20th century across the island,” Ms O’Neill said.
“A proud daughter of Derry, Nell’s wisdom, humour and humility will be sorely missed by everyone who knew her.”
The Press Ombudsman, Susan McKay, told BBC Radio Ulster Ms McCafferty was a “ground-breaking journalist” who “changed the way that all of us who came after her wrote journalism, and did journalism, because she went straight to people.
[ The lonely passion of Nell McCafferty (2004)Opens in new window ]
“If you look back at journalism before Nell and indeed before some other brilliant women of her generation, ordinary people were never asked for their opinion, they were written about by gents who thought that they knew how best to analyse society.
“Nell went straight into working class places, she talked to people who had experienced real hardships and afflictions in their lives, and she brought their voices alive.
“She was tremendously brave and courageous and she wrote about all of the most important stories of her time,” she said.
The National Women’s Council also paid tribute to the “fearless feminist” in a statement.
“We are indebted to Nell. She was completely unafraid to name injustice wherever she saw it, and at times she was deeply unpopular for it. But her work paid dividends. Nell, and many others like her, helped shape the Ireland we live in today – a country which is more equal, less ashamed, and where women are freer to live the lives we deserve. We send our deepest sympathies to Nell’s loved ones at this sad time,” it read.
The mayor of Derry, Lilian Seenoi-Barr, paid tribute to Ms McCafferty as someone who, “throughout her life, stood up against injustice in every form”.
“Nell is undoubtedly one of the most important female figures of her generation and one of the most respected and trusted journalists in the country,” she said.
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) described Ms McCafferty, a lifelong NUJ member, as “one of the most renowned journalists in Ireland”
Irish Secretary Seamus Dooley said that with her death, “a bright light has been extinguished”.
“The fact that she was so often referred to only by her first name is a reflection of her special place in Irish journalism and in the public consciousness,” he said.
Ms McCafferty’s family thanked all those who had paid tribute to her, saying there “aren’t words to convey the emotion that we feel at the loss of Our Nell.
“We are humbled and comforted by the outpouring of love, respect and admiration on this rainy August day.
“We once again rely on the woman herself to express the depth of our feelings in just two words: Goodnight Sisters.”
Ms McCafferty’s remains will be reposing at her sister Carmel’s home in Derry from Wednesday afternoon. Her funeral will be held in St Columba’s Church, Long Tower, on Friday.
A private cremation will take place afterwards in Lakelands Crematorium, Co Cavan.
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