Two women have hair cut off in Cork for socialising with soldiers

Castletownroche, 19 June 1920 - Two young women have had their hair shorn by a gang of men in an attack at their home in Castletownroche, Co. Cork. The women were targeted because, it is alleged, they entertained two military officers in their home.

The attack was carried out by approximately 16 masked men, who temporarily took the officers prisoner and burned their motorcycle and sidecar.

It is alleged that before burning the vehicle the attackers threw the hair cut from the heads of the young women into the sidecar.

Professor Linda Connolly has been investigating the violence against women that took place during the War of Independence, particularly forcible hair cutting. Listen to her conversation on the subject with Myles Dungan on the RTÉ History Show.

[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]