Northern Ireland

‘Mould breaker and establishment shaker’ Nell McCafferty warmly remembered by politicians, journalists and friends

‘Nell McCafferty highlighted the poverty and injustices women faced in the late 20th century across the island’ - First Minister, Michelle O’Neill

Derry writer Nell McCafferty was made an honorary doctor of literature by University College Cork. Picture by Clare Keogh
Derry writer Nell McCafferty, made an honorary doctor of literature by University College Cork, who died on Wednesday morning. PHOTO: CLARE KEOGH.
By Catherine McGinty

Internationally renowned author, journalist and feminist activist, Nell McCafferty has died at the age of 80.

Taoiseach Simon Harris she would be remembered as a “fierce, fearless and fiery” campaigner.

She passed away on Wednesday morning at a nursing home in Inishowen, Co Donegal.

Originally from the Bogside area of Derry, Ms McCafferty was the daughter of the late Lily and Hugh McCafferty and the sister of Carmel and the late Muireanna, Nuala, Hugh and Paddy.

She attended Queen’s University, Belfast, where she undertook a degree in Arts.

After a brief spell as a substitute English teacher and a stint on a Kibbutz in Israel, she became a journalist with The Irish Times and later the Sunday Tribune and Hot Press.

In her personal life, Ms McCafferty was in a fifteen-year relationship with journalist Nuala O’Faolain and, although their relationship ended in 1995, the two remained inextricably linked. May years later, Ms McCafferty said: “We split, but we never separated”.

In her 2004 autobiography Just Call Me Nell, Ms McCafferty wrote of her relationship with Ms O’Faolain: “It’s a love story, a love story that failed. I couldn’t write about my life without writing about that.”

Leading the tributes to Ms McCafferty, President Michael D Higgins said she had “a unique gift in stirring people’s consciousness” and had a “fierce drive to tackle repression, poverty and authoritarianism”.

Mr Higgins said he and his wife Sabina were “privileged” to be friends with her and said she will be “deeply missed by us all”.

He added: “Nell had a unique gift in stirring people’s consciousness, and this made her advocacy formidable on behalf of those who had been excluded from society.”

Derry journalist, playwright and civil rights campaigner Nell McCafferty featured in the display
Derry journalist, playwright and civil rights campaigner Nell McCafferty who died on Wednesday morning.

Foyle MP Colum Eastwood described Ms McCafferty as a “mould breaker and establishment shaker”.

Ms McCafferty was a prominent voice on women’s rights, founding the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement (IWLM) in 1970.

A year later, she took part in the now famous Contraceptive Train against the law prohibiting the importation and sale of contraceptives in the Republic.

IWLM members travelled to Belfast, bought contraceptives, and brought them back to Dublin’s Connolly station, where they staged a protest.

Simon Harris reflected: “In an Ireland trying to emerge from the shadows and find who it was, Nell McCafferty was one of the people who knew exactly who she was and wasn’t afraid to enter every battle for gay and women’s rights. We all owe her a great debt for this.”

Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald said Nell McCafferty’s writing and campaigning had “helped to change Ireland for the better”.

Stormont First Minister and Sinn Fein vice-president Michelle O’Neill said Ms McCafferty “eloquently spoke up for disadvantaged women through her work with the IWLM”.

Ireland’s Press Ombudsman Susan McKay said Ms McCafferty was “an absolutely wonderful journalist”.

“She went straight to people,” added Ms McKay. “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.”

Mayor of Derry and Strabane, Councillor Lilian Seenoi Barr, said Ms McCafferty was a “committed and passionate advocate for civil rights, and a strong voice for women everywhere”.

“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.”

Derry woman, Daisy Mules, who knew Ms McCafferty for many years told The Irish News she was saddened to hear of her friend’s death.

“Nell’s death is a huge loss to Ireland. She was a wonderful role model for us feminists.

“Although we disagreed on aspects of Irish politics, we never ‘fell out’.”

Speaking to The Irish News, lifelong activist Eamonn McCann said he had known Ms McCafferty for 70 years.

“She leaves a big gap because, even when we weren’t getting on, which was quite regular, we were part of one another’s lives. We were neighbours growing up and we were always in touch with one another in the intervening years,” he said.

“I will remember Nell most for her passion. She was entirely unafraid to take on anybody. She wasn’t afraid to take me on. She would have phoned me up to tell me what she thought of my latest statement.

“She was lovely. She was a very distinctive person, even when she was very young, before we reached our teens. There was nobody like Nell.

“We shared a Derryness and an awareness we had come from Derry. Nell wouldn’t let anyone say a bad word about Derry.”

Ms McCafferty’s family said they are “humbled and comforted” by the tributes paid to her.

“There aren’t words to convey the emotion that we feel at the loss of Our Nell,” they said.

“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.”

‘Goodnight Sisters’ was the iconic phrase McCafferty used to sign off at the end of TV appearances and also the title of two volumes of her writings.

Her funeral will take place on Friday, August 23, at 12:30pm, in St. Columba’s Church, Longtower.

Ms McCafferty’s Requiem Mass can be streamed live via https://longtowerchurch.org/webcam/