Anne Twomey of the Shandon Area History Group will speak at the 2026 Spirit of Mother Jones Festival about the Cummins Sisters, a remarkable and fascinating Cork family.
The presentation will take place on Thursday 23rd July at 7.30 pm at the Dance Cork Firkin Crane.
In particular. Anne will examine the lives of the five Cummins sisters who were daughters of William Edward Ashley Cummins (1858-1923) and Jane Constable Hall (1864-1944) who lived on Patrick’s Hill in Cork.
William Cummins was Professor of Medicine at University College Cork and a surgeon at Victoria Hospital.
It was a large Anglican family of five daughters, Geraldine, Mary, Iris, Jane and Phyllis and six sons Arthur, William, Robert, Harry, Nicholas and Fenton.
An unusual element is that in an era which is not noted for the involvement of women in 3rd level education and having independent careers, the five sisters achieved academic excellence through the encouragement especially of their father and the influence of their governess Winifred Holloway.
Their active participation in the sport of hockey at an international level, four out of the five gained international caps for Ireland, more than matched the achievement of their brothers on the rugby fields and was also unusual at the time. Their individual achievements in their private and professional lives in medicine, engineering, arts, as scientists and army officers in Cork and elsewhere are worthy of examination.
Anne Twomey will concentrate on the life stories and achievement of the five unique sisters and portray the wider picture of this unusual Cork family in the early years of the 20th century in Cork as they made their journey in a male dominated society through the turmoil and tragedy of World War 1.
Their story, their achievements and accomplishments which contributed to society in general and to an Ireland itself in a revolutionary era as it emerged from being a British colony on its troubled pathway towards creating a free and Independent state is worth telling.
How the women of this wealthy establishment Cork family which through education broke many glass ceilings and sought to actively transition into the new social and political fabric of society in many diverse ways remains largely untold.
A basic outline of the interests and lives five sisters follows:
Geraldine Dorothy Cummins (1890-1969) writer, suffragist, psychic and spiritualist. Geraldine co-founded the Munster Women’s Franchise League with Susanne Bouvier Day. Along with Susanne, she wrote and published plays, short stories and several religious books.
She recalled being physically stoned by a hostile group of women in her native city in 1914 while campaigning for ‘Votes For Women’. Geraldine was briefly married to poet Austin Clarke. An Irish hockey international, she settled in London during World War Two and made occasional visits to Cork.
Mary Cummins Hearn, (1891-1969)
Mary, then a medical student, married Robert Hearn (1875-1952) in 1911. They had two children. Later he was appointed Bishop of Cork Cloyne and Ross (1938-1952). Mary returned to UCC to her medical studies, after which she was appointed an anesthetist in the Victoria hospital.
Later as a gynecologist, Mary was renowned throughout Cork city as a family doctor for treating and curing all classes regardless of ability to pay. “Dr. Mary’s” astute medical knowledge of women and her kindness to patients became legendary. In 1924 she became the first female fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and continued to practice medicine in the city for almost 40 years. .
Also an Irish hockey international. The old graveyard surrounding the Bells of Shandon is named the Dr. Mary Hearn Park.
Iris Ashley Cummins (1894-1968)
Iris was the first female graduate in Engineering at University College Cork in 1915. After using her engineering skills in the British navy in World War 1 she returned to Ireland and established her own private business as a land surveyor. Later on in 1927 she joined the Irish Land Commission where she was appointed as the first female land surveyor. She lectured and wrote articles in engineering papers and always encouraged girls to enter the profession.
Iris was an Irish hockey international from around 1914 to 1939 and was active in the administration of the game, including taking part in a trip to the United States where she met President Calvin Coolidge.in 1928. (Mother Jones also met President Coolidge earlier in 1924). On the 22nd February 2022, the Civil Engineering Building in UCC was named the Iris Ashley Cummins Building in her honour.
Jane Grace Cummins (1899-1982)
Jane also studied at UCC and graduated with degrees in Medicine, Obstetrics and Surgery and joined the British Colonial Medical Service in Ghana, where she spent most of her life. Married in 1934 to David Miller, they had two children. She served as a squadron officer with the RAF Medical Service during the Second World War. After the war ended, she established child care clinics for the treatment of chest and TB illnesses.
Phyllis Aylmer Cummins (1907-1960)
Phyllis Aylmer Cummins graduated from UCC in 1929 with a Bachelor of Science and a Higher Diploma in Education. Later in 1931, she earned a Master of Science. She worked with the Metallurgy Atomic Research Station at Harwell in the UK.
Phyllis married Horace Shiel Hayes, son of Nathaniel Hayes in 1932.
There were also six sons in the family.
The Cork Mother Jones Committee acknowledges the research of Anne Twomey of the Shandon Area History Group.
The story of the Remarkable Cummins Sisters from Cork will be told in far more detail by Anne Twomey at the Dance Cork Firkin Crane on Thursday evening 23rd July at 7.30pm.
There is no charge, booking is not required but people are advised to come early as it is first come, first seated.
