Born in Coleraine, County Derry, in 1887, Clara Giveen received the medal from the Women's Social and Political Union on June 8, 1913, for her arson assault on the grandstand at Hurst Park Racecourse, which is located just outside of London.

Four days after their friend Emily Wilding Davison died at the Epsom Derby after diving beneath the King's horse, she was part of a group of suffragettes that carried out the arson assault.

After causing thousands of pounds' worth of damage, the gang phoned six local fire departments to put out the fire. The following morning, the police took them into custody.

Ms. Giveen received a sentence of three years in jail and hard work.

The WSPU leaders gave out the medals in the military way to suffragettes who had gone on hunger strike to protest not being acknowledged as political prisoners.

They dangle from a silver pin bar inscribed “For Valour” in the manner of the UK's Victoria Cross, from a ribbon in the colours of the WSPU.

The words 'Hunger Strike' are inscribed on one side of the medal, while the recipient's name appears on the other.

The medal is expected to fetch between €14,000 and €21,000 at auction.

The Bonhams auction house stated in the lot description that Ms. Giveen “became a radical suffragette after witnessing the brutal treatment of women by police at the infamous 'Black Friday' demonstration of 1910.”

Before committing the arson assault, Ms. Giveen participated in other activities after joining the WSPU, including window breaking and obstruction, for which she was detained many times.