Tributes pour in for Irish LGBTQ+ journalist and feminist campaigner Nell McCafferty who passed away

Nell McCafferty was a renowned journalist and author, as well as one of the fiercest feminist and LGBTQ+ campaigners in Ireland.

Community . Written by Beatrice Fanucci.

Irish journalist Nell McCafferty speaking in a microphone in a black and white photo.
Image: Via X - @FinnClodagh

Irish journalist, trailblazing feminist and LGBTQ+ activist Nell McCafferty has passed away today, August 21, aged 80. Tributes are pouring in for the Derry woman, who is remembered as one of the fiercest and most fearless campaigners in Ireland.

Born in Derry in 1944, Nell McCafferty was among the early cohorts of Catholics to be admitted to Queens University in Belfast. There, she studied arts and started to get involved in civil rights movements, setting off her journey as an activist. She later began her journalism career in The Irish Times.

McCafferty was a founding member of the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement and wrote extensively about women’s rights, poverty and social injustices in Ireland between the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1971, she famously took part in what is now known as the Contraceptive Train. Together, with other members of the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement, she travelled to Belfast and bought a range of contraceptive products. The group then brought the products back to Dublin to protest the prohibition of the importation and sale of contraceptives in the Republic of Ireland.

A renowned author, McCafferty wrote several books and worked for other publications such as the Sunday Tribune and Hot Press. The journalist also received an honorary doctorate of literature from University College Cork in 2016, for “her unparalleled contribution to Irish public life over many decades and her powerful voice in movements that have had a transformative impact in Irish society, including the feminist movement, campaigns for civil rights and for the marginalised and victims of injustice.”

 

Her journalistic work also extended to Irish queer publications such as Out magazine and GCN. As shown in the GCN Archive website, in 1992 she penned an article for Issue 37 about the first openly gay professional footballer, Justin Fashanu.

Nell McCafferty died in the early hours of Wednesday morning, August 21, at a nursing home in Co Donegal, as confirmed by her family. Since the news of her passing was announced, tributes have started to pour in from all over Ireland.

Describing her as a “fierce, fearless and fiery” campaigner, Taoiseach Simon Harris said in a statement: “If she was in the room or in the debate, you knew about it.

“Her passion and wrath was not scattergun, it had a laser-like focus on calling out inequality and injustice. She suffered no fools but had a kindness and warmth for many,” the statement further reads. “Her wit and Derry turn of phrase made her impossible to ignore.”

 

“In an Ireland trying to emerge from the shadows and find who it was, Nell McCafferty was one of the people who knew exactly who she was and wasn’t afraid to enter every battle for gay and women’s rights. We all owe her a great debt for this.

“Nell McCafferty left Ireland a much better place than she found it and she played her part with spirit and style. May she rest in peace,” Harris concluded.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin also paid tribute to the campaigner, describing her as “the voice of an era who helped to bring major advancements in civil rights and women’s rights.

“She made an enormous contribution to public debate in Ireland,” Martin said. “In addition to her brilliance as a writer, activist and feminist, Nell brought great warmth and humour to every engagement.

“She made a difference. Sympathies to her family, friends and former colleagues.”

 

GCN co-founder Tonie Walsh remembered his friend Nell McCafferty with the following words: “For this gay teenager in 1970’s Ireland, Nell’s voice and agency loomed large. It was impossible to ignore her, she seemed to be everywhere; on tv and radio, in literature and on the streets. Especially on the streets, where her trenchant and unapologetic brand of feminism and socialist republicanism was needed more than ever.

“We both contributed to Ireland’s first wholly commercial queer magazine, Out, published between 1984-1988,” Walsh continued. “Nell, 40, was already a seasoned columnist, me a rookie staff reporter, fifteen years her junior and in awe of this ‘stroppy cow’ from Derry.

“I treasure the times we spent together, esp. a standout weekend in the early ’80s at the house Marianne Finucane shared with her husband John Clarke. Nuala (Ó Faoláin) was also hanging out. There was drink and a lot of animated chatter. I thought I’d gone to heaven.

“Nell, you were one of our special seers. Eternally gratefully.”

 

Nell McCafferty and Tonie Walsh at Dublin's Outhouse, 1999. © Private collection.
Nell McCafferty and Tonie Walsh at Dublin’s Outhouse, 1999. © Private collection.

The National Union of Journalists described McCafferty as one of the “most renowned journalists” in Ireland. Secretary Seamus Dooley said: “With the death of Nell McCafferty, a bright light has been extinguished.

“Throughout her career, Nell blazed a trail for feminists and played a significant role in the development of the feminist movement in Ireland.

“Always provocative, Nell had the ability to trenchantly argue her case with unique style,” Dooley said.

 

LGBTQ+ activist Ailbhe Smyth took to social media to pay tribute to the journalist, writing: “Brilliant, fearless and passionate, Nell McCafferty ignited the fire of rebellion in me and my generation of women. There was no one like Nell to stir us up to act against injustice and callousness. We will miss you sorely Nell.”

GCN would like to extend our condolences to Nell’s family and friends. Rest in power, Nell McCafferty.

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