History catches up with countrywomen

RURAL women have received scant attention in modern Irish history, Protestant rural women even less so.

I am interested in the lives of such women who lived in County Wexford from 1923-1963.

As part of my research towards a PhD thesis I hope to record their experiences of work in the home, on farms and outside the home; their family lives, education, participation in church and community activities.

I am especially interested in women who were members of the Church of Ireland community in the diocese of Ferns, as well as women who were members of other Protestant churches in Ferns.

It would be great to hear from readers who grew up or lived in the diocese and who would share their memories of those years, or those who wish to recall their mothers’ or sisters’ lives.

No experience is unimportant in the retrieval of this neglected area of Irish social history.

I will of course reply to all contacts and all stories will be treated in strictest confidence.

Catherine O’Connor,

Department of History,

University of Limerick.

Email: [e-mail]