Donnybrook Magdalene Laundry: if walls could talk

As part of the Trinity Talks: Dublin’s Hidden Histories series, a new collaboration between the Trinity Long Room Hub and Near FM.

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The memory of the Magdalene Laundries plays on the Irish consciousness today and the scars remain on society from this brutal institution, sponsored by Church and State. In this live recording, Professor Lindsey Earner-Byrne, School of Histories and Humanities, TCD will reflect on the long history of the Donnybrook Magdalene Laundry in Dublin, which operated from the 1830s to 1992, acting as a ‘refuge’, asylum, and effective prison for generations of Irish women.

Ciarán Murray, Near FM and Professor Earner-Byrne will discuss the myriad reasons women were sent there and the changing function and perception of the laundry, along with the relationship it had with its neighbours in the south Dublin community. The discussion will also explore the Justice for Magdalenes Research (IFMR) resource and the plans to demolish the old laundry-asylum and build apartments in its place.

Lindsey Earner-Byrne was appointed as the Bank of Ireland Professor of Contemporary Irish History in the School of Histories and Humanities, Trinity College Dublin, in August 2023. She is also the director of the Trinity Centre for Modern and Contemporary Irish History and a Fellow of TCD since 2024. She has researched and published widely on modern and contemporary Irish history with a particular focus on poverty, welfare, gender, sexuality, health and vulnerable and marginalised groups.
This talk will be subsequently broadcast on Near FM. You can listen to Near FM online www.nearfm.ie/livestream or on 90.3FM.
Performances by An Góilín Traditional Singing Club.

These events and subsequent radio series are supported by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television licence fee.

Please let us know if you have any access requirements, such as ISL/English interpreting, so that we can facilitate you in attending this event. Contact: tlrh@tcd.ie