Darkest parts of Ireland’s history captured in exhibition

The woollen red cardigan that Connie Robert wore as a child of four before the industrial school took her away hangs recreated in crushed glass in the National Museum of Ireland. She had written a poem about it some years ago after it was found in a suitcase above a press following the death of her mother, bringing with it a fresh round of memories and sorrows.

“There were six crude mendings in it and I could picture my mother darning it by the range, waiting for me to come home,” she says.