Chapter 1 offers an in-depth review of literature germane to the current situation of rural women leaders in Northern Ireland. It opens with a discussion of gender identities, relations and roles from the broad perspective of women’s studies, followed by a more narrowly focused discussion on rural women’s experiences of gender identities, relations and roles, with special attention given to the unique position of farm women. The chapter then addresses organizations and organizational constraints to rural women’s attainment of leadership positions. Subsequently, a brief sociological analysis of leadership is presented. This includes an overview of literature on women in leadership, and culminates with literature concerning rural women in leadership. The methodological and theoretical underpinnings of the research are revealed in Chapter 2, including the details of the research design and profi les of participants. As a qualitative study, semi-structured, in-depth interviews were the primary method of inquiry. Participant observation provided insight into the cultural contexts of the women being interviewed, and the practice of refl exivity acted to highlight the researcher’s voice as it spoke in dialogue with the voices of participants in the interviews and writing up of the fi ndings. The emergence of fi ndings is rooted in two case studies (Alice and Doreen), presented in Chapter 3. These studies are representative of the full process of analysis. Beginning with Alice and Doreen’s narratives, the presence of the Leader voice was identifi ed in all twenty-two of the transcripts. This allowed for comparison of that voice across transcripts, resulting in the emergence of fi ndings. Chapter 4 begins with a discussion of External Factors in the participants’ leadership development. This, and subsequent discussions of Internal Factors and Key Factors, provides context for the presentation of each of the factors, which is divided into three major segments: External Factors, Internal Factors and Key Factors. This chapter utilizes an emphasis on the participants’ voices to defi ne, describe and illustrate each of the factors. The results of this study have signifi cant potential to be applied practically, and to be utilized in the continued development of women leaders from rural areas. It is hoped that this book will be useful in both responding to and generating questions regarding the position of rural women in society and organizations, and that the fi ndings will be of use to the growing body of policy makers concerned with supporting leadership development among rural women. As such, the book concludes with a summary of the fi ndings and recommendations for further research and policy.