Rosita Sweetman

3 weeks ago | irishexaminer.com | Rosita Sweetman

Unwittingly, the law did us all a favour when its officers arrested Máirín de Burca and chucked her into Mountjoy. It was while she was inside, she thought: I am out every week protesting for civil rights, an end to apartheid, an end to the war in Vietnam, what about rights for women? What indeed? Máirín’s punishable crime had been, along with others, smashing a bottle of animal blood on the steps of the American embassy. She also burned their flag in protest at the war in Vietnam.

1 month ago | irishexaminer.com | Rosita Sweetman

Constance Lloyd was the beautiful young daughter of Anglo Irish aristocrats when Oscar Wilde, fresh from America, ‘Walt Whitman’s kiss still on his lip’, met her. She fell instantly, and he, knowing a good thing when he saw it, proposed to his "grave, shy little Artemis with violet eyes". Even his staunchest supporters were surprised at the speed of the engagement. Many have tried valiantly since to portray it as a love match.

1 month ago | independent.ie | Rosita Sweetman

Non-fictionFor such an explosive subject, Abortion, A History is surprisingly mild. Strangely and infuriatingly, it stops short of the US supreme court’s overturn of Roe v Wade in 2022, which brought back draconian measures, and the right-wing administration now in the White House is threatening countrywide bans. Women’s access to abortion, as the author points out, has always been intrinsically tied to the patriarchy. All women have had to negotiate their rights “inside enemy territory”.

1 month ago | irishexaminer.com | Rosita Sweetman

I’m on an intense Edna O‘Brien buzz at the moment, re-reading her autobiography, and off for a second viewing of Sinead O’Shea’s documentary about her life, . My current favourite quote from the Edna oeuvre is from her wonderful creation Baba, in : "The vote I thought means nothing to women. We should be armed." At the time (late 1960s), I scoffed. Women? Armed? Are you joking?

2 months ago | independent.ie | Rosita Sweetman

Rosita Sweetman: The world turned upside down the day I became a mother. In times of chaos, love is what really matters Rosita Sweetman and daughter Chupi, who was born at home on Valentine's Day in 1984We’ve just had Valentine’s Day. I know it’s easy to be cynical about the cheesy cards, the cheap chocs and the bunches of just-about-to-die red roses, but with the world going to hell in a handcart under the aegis of Trump and Co, Valentine’s is still a precious day to me.