New musical puts mischief on The Train tracks

A satirical musical based on the ‘contraception train’ of 1971 takes a lighthearted look at an era of great change in Ireland, writes Padraic Killeen.

PLAYWRIGHT Arthur Riordan describes it as “one of the few successful rebellious gestures in Irish history”.

On a Saturday in May, 1971, a band of women representing the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement — among them Nell McCafferty, June Devine, and Mary Kenny — took off on a train to Belfast to purchase the pill, condoms, and other contraceptives that were then outlawed in the Republic of Ireland.