by Sally Liya
Bahá'í women in Ireland before 1946
The two earliest Bahá'ís in Northern Ireland were women. Joan Waring, a daughter of Waringstown House near Lurgan (since 1913 or before), but who married and moved to Donegal with her husband in 1922. Stella Selfridge nee Johnston wrote poetry and may have become a Bahá'í in the 1930s. One of her poems was published in the USA and a Bahá'í wrote to her to say how Bahá'í-like it was. She wrote an inquiry and got into the correspondence course run by the British National Spiritual Assembly. Stella was married a number of times and spent time in homes of one sort and another. For several years she lived in Portstewart in a beautiful spot minding her old father. Her last years were spent in Purdysburn hospital. Her obituary, published in The Bahá'í Journal in June 1967, said:
Stella had been ill for many years, but there was such a great spirit of unity at her funeral that one of the Friends wrote to us, “It seemed as if Bahá’u’lláh was giving a special blessing of unity, power and teaching at Stella’s funeral, to make up for all she would have liked to have done but was unable, in her life.” This special spiritual atmosphere was a perfect setting for the beauty of the Bahá'í prayers read at the graveside, and attracted Stella’s relatives to enquire more about the Faith. We would like to share with you one of Stella’s poems, which was called, Thoughts”:
Death is over The sky is white with stars, The cornflowers dancing in the sun, The children laugh. The world is now so happy The cripples walk, The aged smile. All dreads have vanished In the dawning light.”
Neither Joan nor Stella were in a position to found a Bahá'í community in Northern Ireland - Joan because she had moved to Donegal in 1922 and Stella because of her health problems. However, it is interesting to note that after her husband died in 1949, Joan was planning to move to Belfast , but died unexpectedly in December 1950 at the age of 67.
IN THE NEXT EDITION ‘THE WOMEN WHO PIONEERED TO BELFAST’
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