This chapter focuses on the ways in which wives resisted their husbands’ abuse. Although the options available to them were limited, abused wives responded to their husbands’ violence in a variety of ways: they fought back with retaliatory violence; appealed to family, friends or neighbours for help; sought guidance from parish priests; reported the abuse to the Gardaí; charged their husbands with assault; petitioned for judicial separations; and/or left the marital home. In the process of reacting to and resisting their husbands’ violence, abused women involved a wide variety of people in their private plight and drew upon a broad network of support. Indeed, marital violence blurred the boundaries between ‘private’ and ‘public’ behaviour because so many people outside of the conjugal unit were forced to confront the issue. In assessing how the wider community understood and reacted to marital violence, this chapter draws broader conclusions about gendered expectations within marriage, the nature of family life and the relationship between family and community.