Bernadette Devlin Analysis

    Devlin was a bold, confident, young woman. She was not scared to stray away from the norms that society put in place for women. She aced tests and flew through her academics without any issues even finished some early. Devlin’s greatest influence was Mother Benigus. As she wrote, “[…] Mother Benigus, whom we called Reverend Mother, and who is among the people who have influenced me, one of those I most respect” (p.190). This woman was very influential in Devlin's strong sense of self. That came from learning Irish history from Mother Benigus rather than hearing the English side. Gaining more knowledge of Irish history helped to bring out the Irish activist within Devlin. 

    As Bernadette described, “I knew no Irish when I went to grammar school, but the class I joined was a class of crude political rebel: we knew nothing about politics except what we were for and against, and we were for Ireland and Mother Benignus was our heroine” (p.191). This woman was a mentor and hero to her students being a woman in power discussing her strong political standing. Even though she frowned upon them taking part in their own discussions because of school rules. When Devlin was a senior at St. Patrick’s Academy, she held meetings with other students having coffee and talking about politics. This was not something that was allowed to be discussed they were supposed to focus on school and following in the direction that women were supposed to in their faith.

    In her early 20s, Bernadette attended a civil rights march in Londonderry which she felt was necessary to bring awareness and potential change. She realized that the oppression of Northern Ireland was not only coming from a few members of the government but the system as a whole. Devlin was able to gain a position of power in parliament saying that she speaks on behalf of the oppressed working people, and Protestants as well as Catholics. She led protests and got the word out to the press to aid her ideas of positive change for their area.  

Word Count: 347

Comments

  1. Katie TaylorFebruary 16, 2021 at 1:21 PM

    You did a great job of analyzing the relationship between Bernadette Devlin and Mother Benigus. Devlin saw Mother Benigus as an inspirational role model and almost like a second mother. Mother Benigus taught Devlin to have a strong sense of self which led Devlin to do things that Mother Benigus did not approve of (or was not suppose to approve of in school). Devlin carried what she learned from Mother Benigus with her into her political career where she lead protests and expressed her ideas.

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