Hackett, Rosie (1893-1976), was an Irish labor activist and nationalist. She was an important figure in the early years of Ireland’s labor movement. During the early 1900’s, she also took part in the movement for Irish independence.
Rosanna (nicknamed Rosie) Hackett was born on July 25, 1893, in Dublin, and grew up in a working-class family. At the time, conditions for Dublin’s working class were harsh. The work force was largely unskilled and unorganized. Many people, including Hackett’s family, lived in crowded, decaying apartment buildings called tenements. Wages were relatively low, and rates of disease and death were high.
As a teenager, Hackett worked as a packer in a paper store. Around 1910, she joined the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union (ITGWU), founded by labor leader James Larkin. In the early 1910’s, she began working as a messenger at Jacob’s Biscuit Factory. In 1911, male employees at the factory bakehouse went on strike to demand better working conditions there. Hackett may have been among the female employees who went on strike in support of the men. As a result, the men and women secured better working conditions and a pay raise. Soon after the strike, Hackett helped found the Irish Women Workers’ Union (IWWU), closely associated with the ITGWU.
In 1913, a strike by Dublin’s tram (streetcar) workers set off a series of strikes and lockouts throughout the city. A lockout occurs when an employer closes a plant to keep employees out. At least 20,000 workers were locked out. Hackett helped organize relief efforts for the workers and their families by helping to run a soup kitchen. During this period, Hackett lost her job because of her union activity. She then began working in the IWWU cooperative shop at Liberty Hall, the headquarters of the ITGWU and the Irish Citizen Army (ICA), one of several Irish nationalist groups. At Liberty Hall, Hackett also trained as a printer and became active with the ICA.
During the Easter Rising of 1916, Hackett worked as a nurse treating wounded Irish rebels. The Easter Rising was a brief revolt against British rule in Ireland. Hackett was the only woman present during the printing of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, an attempt to declare Ireland independent. She was imprisoned for 10 days for her part in the rebellion.
After the Easter Rising, Hackett helped relaunch the IWWU. She continued to work in the labor movement into her old age. Hackett died on July 4, 1976, in Dublin. She was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery with military honors. In 2013, a new bridge over the River Liffey in Dublin was named the Rosie Hackett Bridge in her honor.
