As part of these reprisals they raided and attacked the homes of several women known to have republican sympathies. In 1920 and 1921, more than 180 incidents of forcible and violent hair-cropping of women have been identified using a multitude of primary sources. There are also many examples of such attacks on Cumann na mBan women or women suspected by the Crown forces of having republican sympathies. Despite its absence from many subsequent histories, the hair-cropping of women by Crown forces and by republicans was not a hidden aspect of the War of Independence. “They treated me gently in the circumstances… When they had cut my hair off they let me go.

Source: Irish Independent November 21, 2020 02:33 UTC