Ah for jayses sake. This is what RTÉ comes up with as a long list for Ireland’s greatest figures. Members of the public are expected to vote based on this long list to come up with a short list of five, who will then be the subject of a documentary series on RTÉ One in the autumn.

Needless to say, this morning the Irish Twittersphere was surprised, to put it mildly. Out of RTÉ’s 40 there are three – THREE – women. These are: Sonia O’Sullivan; Mary Robinson; and Adi Roche.

I don’t think anyone would have any qualms about these names being included on such a list. But I’d like to know where are the others?! Especially when you consider that names such as Colin Farrell, Stephen Gately, fucking Louis Walsh and bloody fecking Bono are on the list. I mean, JESUS. (Did the person in RTÉ who comes up with “celebrity” guests decide this long list?)

Here are some ideas for the women and others I’d like to see on a proper list of Ireland’s greatest figures. Let us know in the comments who else you think should be included.

• Constance Gore-Booth (Countess Markievicz) (b. 4 Feb 1868 – d. 15 Jul 1927)

Irish Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil politician, revolutionary nationalist, suffragette and socialist. In December 1918, she was the first woman elected to the British House of Commons, though she did not take her seat and along with the other Sinn Féin TDs formed the first Dáil Éireann. She was also one of the first women in the world to hold a cabinet position (Minister of Labour of the Irish Republic, 1919–1922).

• David Norris (b. 1 Jul 1944)

The first openly gay person elected to public office in Ireland, and is a Senator, Joycean scholar, former university lecturer in English, civil and human rights campaigner, orator, writer, historian, traveller and raconteur.

• Jeffrey Dudgeon (b. 1946)

Author, civil rights activist and co-founder of the Northern Ireland Gay Rights Association. With a successful challenge to Victorian laws criminalising homosexual behaviour in the European Court of Human Rights, he laid the groundwork for the Norris ruling which would later follow.

• Eileen Gray (b. 9 Aug 1878 – d. 31 Oct 1976)

Irish furniture designer and architect, and a pioneer of the Modern Movement in architecture. Her work has featured in the private collection of Yves Saint Laurent, among others, and her archive recently has been acquired by the National Museum of Ireland. She mixed with other 20th artists such are Le Corbusier, and one of her creations, a “Dragon” armchair dating from 1917-’19, fetched over U$21m at auction in 2009, setting an auction record for 20th century decorative art.

• Katie Taylor (b. 27 Oct 1986)

Irish boxer and footballer. Lost a boxing match in March 2010 for the first time since mid-2007. She’s won gold in countless European and World titles, and has been successful in almost every bout, bar two or three. Perhaps already one of Ireland’s greatest athletes, and her career has only begun.

• Hannah Sheehy-Skeffington (b. 24 May 1877 – d. 20 Apr 1946)

Suffragette and Irish nationalist. Along with her husband, Margaret Cousins and James Cousins she founded the Irish Women’s Franchise League in 1908 with the aim of obtaining women’s voting rights. She was later a founding member of the Irish Women’s Workers’ Union.

• Jim Larkin (b. 21 Jan 1876 – d. 30 Jan 1947)

Irish trade union leader and socialist activist. Founder of the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union, the Irish Labour Party, and later the Workers’ Union of Ireland. Perhaps best known for his role in the 1913 Dublin Lockout. Stated during one of his famous speeches, “The great appear great because we are on our knees: Let us rise.”

• Mainie Jellet (b. 1897 – d. 1944)

Irish painter whose piece, Decoration (1923), was among the first abstract paintings shown in Ireland when it was exhibited at the Society of Dublin Painters Group Show in 1923. She was an important figure in Irish art history, both as an early proponent of abstract art and as a champion of the modern movement.

• Evie Hone (b. 1894 – d. 1955)

Irish painter and stained glass artist. Her works include the East Window for the Chapel at Eton College, Windsor (1949-1952), and My Four Green Fields, now located in Government Buildings, Dublin. She was influential in the modern movement in Ireland, and was one of the founders of the Irish Exhibition of Living Art.

• Related topic: It’s LGBT History Month at Tallaght Library

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