In this work, Sinéad McCoole skillfully recounts the lives of many Irish female revolutionaries. Conducting research for a historical exhibit about Kilmainham Gaol—the famous Dublin prison that housed political dissidents between 1900 and 1923—McCoole discovered a multitude of untold stories involving female activists in the Irish Nationalist movement. These “hidden histories,” often obtained through interviews with surviving family members, represented a wealth of unexplored knowledge. With this work, McCoole addresses the problem noted by Margaret Ward in the foreword of the book—that of a lack of scholarship focusing on the commitment of Irish women to an essentially male-dominated movement. McCoole's main purpose is to demonstrate that Irish women from all walks of life participated in the Irish Nationalist movement and that their involvement played a crucial role in the movement's ability to function.

In the first half of her work, McCoole chronologically describes the history of the Irish nationalist movement, highlighting female involvement. Within each chapter McCoole stresses her main thesis by focusing on specific women's stories, demonstrating their actions as central to the nationalists’ success. Chapter 1 introduces the myriad of organizations women created and were involved in between 1900 and 1916, such as Inghinide na hEireann (Daughters of Ireland), founded by Maud Gonne in 1900 to actively campaign for an independent Ireland and a revival of Irish culture. In an effort to protect striking laborers, the Irish Citizens Army (ICA) formed in 1913. In the same year, Cumann na mBan was organized as an auxiliary to the male Irish Volunteer Force. By October 1915, Cumann had grown to over sixty branches training women for both military action and nursing.

Chapter 2 stresses the involvement of women in the 1916 Easter Rising. As members of ICA or Cumann na mBan, an estimated two hundred women took on a number of important roles as dispatch couriers, “basket girls” who brought food to various battalions, nurses, and snipers. McCoole relates numerous individual accounts. Irish Citizens Army private Mary Skinnider was shot three times attempting to bomb a house near St. Stephen's Green. Elizabeth O’Farrell risked her own life to deliver rebel leader Patrick Pearse's surrender. Ironically, the very fact that these participants were women resulted in many escaping harsh punishment. Except for those with previous criminal records of revolutionary activity, women activists in the rebellion were released by General Maxwell “in view of their sex” (51).

McCoole goes on to claim that these women kept the nationalist movement alive following the internment and execution of its leaders after the Rising. Women ran the National Aid and Volunteers’ Dependent Fund to provide sustenance for struggling families whose members were imprisoned. During the War of Independence (1919–21), women worked as couriers and nurses. They provided safe houses for IRA members and acted as spies in Michael Collins's network of informants. Again, McCoole peppers the chapter with personal stories of specific women such as Linda Kearns, who successfully escaped from prison after being arrested for smuggling guns.

She chronicles Republican women's involvement in the Irish Civil War between 1922 and 1923. Cumann na mBan voted to reject the treaty establishing the Irish Free State, finding its provision for an oath of allegiance to the British crown untenable. Chapter 4 narrows in on McCoole's specialty—the lives of female political prisoners in Kilmainham Gaol. Detailing many stories of prison life, McCoole suggests that even in the poor conditions of the jail, women remained dedicated to their cause—setting up a Prisoner's Council and agreeing to stage a hunger strike along with their male counterparts.

The second half of the book records seventy-four brief biographies of women activists, ranging from upper-class Protestants to working-class Catholics. While legendary figures such as Constance Markievicz and Maud Gonne are featured, McCoole's main purpose is to accent the lives of less well-known women. Mary Ellen Zambra is a primary example. A working-class girl with a job at Jacob's Biscuit factory, Zambra (1906–26) joined the Cumann na mBan at age sixteen, spending time at Kilmainham for the shooting of an officer from the Criminal Investigation Division of the Free State. McCoole obtained Zambra's story, like many others, through the exploration of prison autograph books and interviews with family members. These biographies underscore McCoole's assertion that revolutionary women came from various economic and political backgrounds to join the cause of Irish independence.

In her title, McCoole uses W. T. Cosgrave's assessment that these activists were not ordinary women. While Cosgrave referred to those participating on the Republican side of the Civil War, McCoole extends this definition to include all the female activists throughout her work. Yet, McCoole does not define an “ordinary” Irish woman during this period. In fact, there are few attempts to establish how these particular women fit into a larger historical context. McCoole's book tends to add these women to an existing male-dominated Irish nationalist historiography rather than reshaping the field to create a new historiography that addresses women's participation.

While McCoole's work may be more narrative than analytic, its task of recovering female involvement makes it an important contribution to its field. Accompanied by many absorbing photographs of revolutionaries and memorabilia, McCoole's text also opens up further avenues of exploration for more detailed studies looking at how these women fit into the gendered power structures of their time. As Ward states, this work is a valuable addition to the “under-researched and underestimated” role women have played in Irish nationalist history (13).