Margaretta D'Arcy

Biography

Margaretta Ruth D'Arcy is an actress, writer, playwright, and activist. D'Arcy has been a member of the Irish association of artists, known as Aosdana, since its inauguration and is known for addressing Irish nationalism, civil liberties, and women's rights in her work.

As an activist, in 1961, D'Arcy joined the anti-nuclear Committee of 100, led by Bertrand Russell. In 1981 her peace­ activism resulted in her incarceration in Armagh Jail, after defacing a wall at the Ulster Museum. Her book Tell Them Everything tells the story of her time during the Armagh and H-Block dirty protests and was one of the earliest accounts about the Armagh women, their Republicanism and imprisonment.

D'Arcy also directed Yellow Gate Women, a film about the attempts by women of Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp to outwit the British and United States Military at RAF Greenham Common with bolt cutters and legal challenges. Challenging censorship since 1987, she ran a women's kitchen pirate­ radio from her home in Galway.