Editing Silver Sisterhood (section)

==Rhennish community==
The Silver Sisterhood came to Burtonport from [[Yorkshire]] in September 1982<ref name="RTE1">{{cite web |title=Maids of the Silver Sisterhood|url=https://www.rte.ie/archives/2017/1116/920656-the-silver-sisterhood-of-burtonport/ |publisher=Raidió Teilifís Éireann |accessdate=29 February 2020}}</ref> and occupied a large house that had previously been the home of the [[Atlantis (commune)|Atlantis commune]] (often referred to as the Screamers).<ref name="RTE1"/> They christened the house {{lang|ga|An Droichead Beo}}, meaning 'The Bridge of Life'.<ref name="RTE1"/> There were initially seven members.<ref name="RTE1"/>

[[File:Ailtanchorrain.JPG|right |thumb |[[Burtonport]], County Donegal |alt=A road between two buildings, one red and the other pebbledash, with cars parked on either side.]]
The Sisterhood believed in a feminine Supreme Deity.<ref name="RTE2">{{cite web |title=A Matriarchal Society in Donegal |url=https://www.rte.ie/archives/2017/1116/920656-the-silver-sisterhood-of-burtonport/ |publisher=Raidió Teilifís Éireann |accessdate=29 February 2020}}</ref> They worshipped [[Goddess movement|God as the Mother]] and claimed that everything they did centred around the worship of her.<ref name="RTE1"/> Music and chanting had great importance as acts of devotion.<ref name="RTE1"/> The musical instruments used by the group were all handmade by themselves.<ref name="RTE1"/> They stressed a great emphasis on craft as a path to the sacred.<ref name="WomanSpirit">{{cite news |last1=Turner |first1=Buckwheat |title=The Silver Sisterhood |volume=10 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.28046780 |accessdate=29 February 2020 |issue=39 |publisher=[[WomanSpirit]] |date=Spring 1984 |ref=WomanSpirit}}</ref> There was also an emphasis on [[Self-sustainability|self-sufficiency]] and the members grew food to feed themselves and sell.<ref name="RTE1"/><ref name="RTE2"/> Members fasted on Fridays by skipping breakfast and lunch.<ref name="WomanSpirit"/> They operated a [[tearoom]] in the house which served the town.<ref name="WomanSpirit"/> No electricity or modern appliances were used by the group initially and plastic was shunned as a [[pollution|pollutant]].<ref name="RTE1"/><ref name="WomanSpirit"/> Female members wore full-length dresses, covered their heads in public, and referred to themselves as 'maids'.<ref name="RTE1"/><ref name="WomanSpirit"/>

The Rhennish community was [[matriarchy|matriarchal]].<ref name="RTE2"/><ref name="WomanSpirit"/> The group claimed to be following a matriarchal structure that was the norm in western Europe in ancient times.<ref name="WomanSpirit"/> [[Patriarchy]] was described as a recent and unusual development that would soon die out and be replaced by a matriarchal golden age.<ref name="WomanSpirit"/> Men could become members.<ref name="RTE2"/> One man was part of the original group that came to Burtonport in 1982.<ref name="RTE1"/> However, he had left by July 1983.<ref name="RTE2"/> In an interview for [[RTÉ]], a member expressed hope that men would come to live in the community long-term but acknowledged that it was difficult to attract them.<ref name="RTE2"/> The community was also hierarchical in nature.<ref name="WomanSpirit"/> Equality was claimed to be a patriarchal concept that stopped people from working together.<ref name="WomanSpirit"/> In an interview for ''[[WomanSpirit]]'' magazine, the view was expressed by one member that there are always leaders in a group whether acknowledged or not<ref name="WomanSpirit"/> and that "some maids like to tell others what to do and some maids like to be told what to do".<ref name="WomanSpirit"/>