The story of the Irish revolutionary period in the early twentieth century from the perspective of female activists. This book highlights a time when vast numbers of Irish women were politicised and imprisoned for their beliefs, with a special emphasis on one prison, Kilmainham Gaol.

The women portrayed in the book represent all walks of life: shop assistants, doctors, housewives, laundry workers, artists, teachers. There were married women, mothers, single and widowed women and even mere schoolchildren.

They played a full role in the revolutions, acting as spies, couriers, snipers, gun-runners, medics, and endured the full rigours of prison life.