Have your say: Is a woman changing surnames to her husband's ‘symbolic control' or harmless tradition?
Women keep changing their surnames to match their husbands'. Why are we normalising this symbolic control?
This was the headline on a column which garnered strong reaction and debate from readers on our social media channels this week.
We'd like to hear what you think. Do you think that women should keep their original surnames after they get
married
? As Áine Kenny wrote: 'While women in Ireland are no longer viewed as their husband's property, changing one's surname is still a loss of identity.'
Do you think it simply a harmless tradition and just like the idea of becoming a Mrs? Is it for the ease for family administration and border control with
children
?
Do you think it just depends on the family?
READ MORE
What do you think about families going double-barrelled? Or men taking their wife's surname? Whose
name do you think children should use
?
As Kenny says: 'I often hear women worrying that if they don't change their name, they won't have the same surname as their kids. While this is a valid concern, why are we automatically giving children just their father's surname?'
Tell us your thoughts on the alternative options or what happens in same-sex marriages. 'I'm beginning to hear of another option: the couple chooses a new surname that they both take. This can be an amalgamation of their existing names, or a totally new name,' writes Kenny.
You can let us know what you think using the form below. Please limit your submissions to 400 words or less. Please include a phone number for verification purposes only. If you would prefer to remain anonymous, please indicate this in your submission – we will keep your name and contact details confidential.
We will curate a selection of submissions for an article but please note we may not publish every submission we receive.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Carine O'Grady, secretary at UCD's school of classics, leaves €5.7m estate
Carine O'Grady, of the UCD Classical Museum and UCD school of classics, who died last January, left a will valued at €5.67 million, papers published by the Probate Office have shown. Ms O'Grady, of Stillorgan Road, Donnybrook, Dublin, was a secretary with the classics department. She was known to many academics and thousands of UCD classics students, many of whose theses she typed. She was also the widow of Mick O'Flanagan, a member of Ireland's 1948 Rugby Grand Slam winning squad who died in 2015. Art collector and representative of the philanthropic Haverty Trust, Gwen Woods, of Clyde Lane, Ballsbridge, left estate valued at €4.9 million, Probate Office papers showed. READ MORE Ms Woods, who died in February last year, was a familiar figure in the art world and donated a number of her personally owned pieces of art to institutions such as the Boyle Civic Art Collection, now one of the largest civic arts collections in the State. Nora Timmins, mother of Wicklow Fine Gael TD Edward Timmins, left an estate valued at just over €1m when she died. Ms Timmins, who died at her home at Weavers Square, Baltinglass, Co Wicklow, in November 2023, was also the mother of the former Fine Gael and latterly independent TD Billy Timmins. She was married to the late former Fine Gael TD Godfrey Timmins. Born Nora Mary Neilan in Co Galway in 1927, Ms Timmins left a gross estate valued at €1,003,945. The estate values are supplied by the Probate Office and detailed on the official Grant of Probate, which allows executors to administer individual wills. The values typically include all assets, including the family home or farm. In another grant of probate, John Loughlin, of Abbeyview Lodge, Monkstown, Co Dublin, left an estate valued at €2.97 million when he died in December 2023. Robert Duane, of Dollymount Avenue, Clontarf, Dublin, left an estate valued at €2 million when he died in October 2023. Margaret Klotz, former teacher at Alexandra College, Dublin, with an address at St Kevin's Gardens, Dartry, left an estate valued at €1.58 million when she died in February last year.
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
Seán Doggett sets 400m record to take gold at Schools Track and Field Championships
Every year since 1916, the Irish Schools Track and Field Championships have produced some standout results, oftentimes markers of international success, and Seán Doggett was among those to grab the spotlight in Tullamore this weekend. The two-day event, where over 1,000 athletes qualified from 392 schools across the country, saw championship records broken in several events, none more impressively so than Doggett's 47.22 seconds in the senior boys 400 metres. Despite windy conditions, the 18-year-old smashed the previous mark of 47.66 set by Brian Gregan in 2008. For Doggett, a student at Coláiste an Éachréidh in Athenry, it also continued his impressive rise in the event, which he only started racing in 2023. Last year, he became the youngest Irish athlete to compete in a senior European Championships, featuring in the men's 4x400m relay in Rome. Doggett, co-coached by his father Stephen, was one of the runaway winners at the weekend, beating Christopher Lynch (Belvedere College) who was second in 49.29, with Conor McDonagh (St Attractas CS, Tubbercurry) third in 50.5. READ MORE Maria Zakharenko (Avondale CC) also stamped her authority on the senior girls 400m race to take the title in 55.58. Ben Skyes (Grosvenor GS, Belfast) on his way to winning the intermediate boys 100m event. Photograph: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile In the senior boys 100m event, Belvedere College's Cillian Doherty took the top spot in 10.86, with Elena O' Sullivan (Regina Mundi, Cork) winning the senior girls race in 11.96. Ben Skyes from Grosvenor GS, Belfast took the intermediate boys 100m title in 10.72, equalling the championship record. European Under-18 medallist Joe Burke from Our Lady's Templemore showed his class in the senior boys 200m, securing gold in 21.52. The senior boys 1,500m was won by Lorcan Benjacar (Ard Scoil Rís) in 3:58.12, and in the intermediate girls 3,000m, Emma Hickey from St Mary's, New Ross (9:28.14) and Freya Renton from Sacred Heart, Westport (9:33.87) both ran under the previous championship record of 9:49.82. Renton then flipped the tables on Hickey to take the 1,500m title in 4:30.59. In the field, Michael Kent from Good Counsel College, New Ross also cleared a new championship record of 4.55m in the senior boys pole vault, with European Under-18 gold medallist Thomas Williams (Coláiste Dún an Rí, Kingscourt) dominating the senior boys hammer with a best of 62.30m. One of the long-standing records to survive the weekend was John Treacy's senior boys 5,000m mark of 14:17.0, set in 1974, with Cillian Gleeson from Coláiste Chiaráin, Leixlip giving it a good rattle to win in 14:19.66. Faye Mannion (Coláiste Muire, Clare) and Freya Bateman (Mount Mercy, Cork) who took first and second respectively in the intermediate girls 800m event. Photograph: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile Meanwhile Sharlene Mawdsley is in line for the biggest pay-day of her career after finishing fifth with a season best of 51.12 in the 400m event at the third Grand Slam Track meeting in Philadelphia. Victory went to Marileidy Paulino from the Dominican Republic in 49.12, the Olympic and World champion already having claimed the Grand Slam title in Miami, worth $100,000. Salwa Eid Naser from Bahrain originally finished second, but was disqualified for a lane infringement. Mawdsley will also run the 200m event on Sunday evening, where the combined placings decide the Grand Slam prizes, fifth place still worth $20,000. Sophie O'Sullivan has also qualified for the NCAA Track and Field Championships, winning her regional 1,500m in 4:08.21, in what is her last season at the University of Washington. Mark English will also look to continue his good form at the Palio Città della Quercia meeting in Italy on Monday, two days after he improved his own Irish 800m record to 1:44.34 to win the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Bydgoszcz, Poland on Friday.
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
Live GAA updates: Donegal search for a win away to Cavan before Armagh face Dublin at HQ
Sunday's fixtures All-Ireland SFC Cavan v Donegal, Breffni Park, 2pm Derry v Galway, Celtic Park, 2pm Dublin v Armagh, Croke Park, 4pm Monaghan v Clare, Clones, 4pm Tailteann Cup Leintrim v Tipperary, Cusack Park, Mullingar, 1.45pm Antrim v London, Páirc Esler, 1.45pm Carlow v Longford, O'Connor Park, 1.45pm Fermanagh v Wexford, Croke Park, 1.45pm Kildare v Sligo, Dr Hyde Park, 2pm 2 minutes ago Good afternoon, and welcome to The Irish Times live GAA blog for what is another big afternoon of football in the All-Ireland series, the headline second round game being the meeting of 2024 champions Armagh and 2023 champions Dublin in Croke Park at 4pm. There are four All-Ireland series games in all, Derry also taking on Galway in Celtic Park at 2pm, a critical game for both teams given they lost their opening game. Cavan will also host Donegal at Kingspan Breffni Park at 2pm, with Jim McGuinness looking to regain his winning touch after Donegal fell to Tyrone in round one. The in-form Monaghan will also Clare in Clones at 4pm. There are also five games in the third round of the Tailteann Cup. Leitrim play Tipperary in Mullingar, Kildare face Sligo in Dr Hyde, Carlow play Longford in O'Connor Park, Fermanagh play Wexford in Croke Park, and Antrim play London in Newry.
