The youngest woman ever elected to the British Parliament, Bernadette Devlin (born 1947) personified the young radical Catholics of Northern Ireland at the onset of the modern troubles. She intermixed socialism, Irish republicanism, anti-clericalism, and feminism with general political impracticality and radical brashness.

Bernadette Devlin was the third of the six children of John James and Elizabeth Bernadette Devlin of Cookstown, County Tyrone. Her mother's family, who were of strong farmer and publican background, opposed her parent's marriage because her father was from a laboring background. From both parents (her father who died when she was nine and her mother who died when she was 19) she developed a strong Irish Republican spirit and a sense of detestation for pharisaical piety and respectability. She attended St. Patrick's Academy, Dungannon, County Tyrone, and entered Queen's University, Belfast, in 1965 to study psychology.

Took Part in Protests

This was a period when many...