In February 1912, a group of suffragettes, including Mary Strangman, met with the Irish Chief Secretary to debate the incorporation of women’s suffrage in the upcoming Home Rule Bill. Their perceptions of Augustine Birrell’s assistance varied; one thought he was “extremely pleasant,” while another criticised his lack of substance, saying: “There was nothing in what he said. I would like to punch him in the eye.”
Among the five delegates was Mary Strangman, who had recently become the first female member of Waterford Corporation and who also worked as a medical doctor. Strangman, at nearly 40, was considered young by some, yet it is improbable she was the one who threatened Birrell.
The quiet determination of Strangman, a pioneering doctor in Waterford, led to significant achievements without extreme actions. She was instrumental in saving many lives and was never implicated in any death. Despite her contributions, she has largely been overlooked in historical accounts.
Strangman is remembered in Waterford City Hall, where a room has been named in her honour, and her life has been used as the inspiration for a new play, more details of which will emerge soon.
Born at Carriganore, which is located to the west of Waterford in 1872, Strangman was one of six children of a local “gentleman” and a Cork native mother. All of their children received their education at home, but Mary and her sister Lucia became students at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1891. This institution was the first medical school in the UK that allowed women equal admission rights with men.
Following her graduation, Strangman spent several years in England, gaining experience in an asylum and then in a private hospital, where she taught midwifery. In 1902, she won the fellowship of the RCSI, becoming only the second woman to do so, after Emily Dickson. The following year, she opened her own practice in her home city.
Strangman was recognised for her groundbreaking remedies for alcoholism and opium addiction, or “morphinomania” as it was termed in those days. She detailed a case in a 1907 article for the British Medical Journal wherein she had fully recuperated a client who had been addicted for three decades. The patient had first encountered the substance at an opium-smoking club in London, where he grew fond of the mental clarity and enhanced thoughts it provided, eventually becoming dependent after about four years. Despite several failed attempts to break free from his addiction, he consulted Strangman who treated him with strychnine and other drugs. Immediate recovery was noted including the disappearance of a recurring hallucination that caused sleep disruptions.
Strangman also co-founded the Women’s National Health Association of Ireland in 1908, aimed at encouraging women to engage in health promotion, particularly in the battle against tuberculosis. Despite facing obstacles like the indifference of the Waterford Corporation, she seized the opportunity to run for election at the earliest opportunity following women’s eligibility to run for the county boroughs, winning a seat.
However, Strangman and members of the Irish Women’s Franchise League soon discovered that they could not count on the support of the Member of Parliament for Waterford, John Redmond, or his Irish Party in Westminster. Strangman disapproved of Redmond’s anti-suffrage stance, even though she maintained her political moderation. For instance, she was a part of the Munster Women’s Franchise League, established in Cork by authors Edith Somerville and Violet Martin in order to bypass the militancy prevalent in other parts of the movement.
On the action front, Strangman boycotted the 1911 census as part of her demonstrations, with a note from the enumerator stating that she was absent as a protest against disenfranchisement.
The old Irish party was erased and women were given the right to vote after a decade of turmoil. Dr. Mary Strangman, who was only 48 in 1920, decided she had had enough of public life. She chose to focus on her medical career, which she continued until her demise in January 1943.
Despite her unassuming yet success-filled life, a full-length stage show has been recently developed, courtesy of the Minaun Community Theatre Group of Waterford. The show, which goes by the understated name ‘A Medical Woman – The Life and Times of Dr Mary Strangman’, had a brief but completely booked run earlier this year in Waterford. It is now making its way towards Broadway, or more precisely, across the county to Cork.
Timed perfectly for the harvest season, the play is slated to be showcased in the revamped grain store of Ballymaloe House, considered one of Ireland’s more season-appropriate venues. The performance is lined up for a one-night-only event, taking place on the 7th of September. Tickets priced at €20 are available via the Ballymaloe grainstore website.