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The Women's History Project

Archived page. This is a record of a page published on the Women's History Association of Ireland website in 2013. It is kept for its historical value. Dates, prizes, calls for papers, membership details and committee roles refer to that time; contact details, forms and attachments have not been kept. This site is not operated by the association. Archive index

The Women's History Project began work in September 1997. Its aim was to survey, list and publish historical documents relating to the history of women in Ireland. The Project, under the directorship of Dr Maria Luddy, was managed by a committee appointed by the Women's History Association of Ireland, made up of archivists, librarians, history teachers and academic historians.

Work of the Project

  • Jean Agnew and Maria Luddy (eds), The Drennan-McTier Letters, 1776–1819, 3 volumes (The Women's History Project / Irish Manuscripts Commission, Dublin, 1998–1999).
  • A Directory of Sources for Women's History in Ireland, incorporating the results of a survey of over three hundred private and public repositories in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
  • 'If Ever You Go To Dublin Town': photographs by Elinor Wiltshire with text by Orla Fitzpatrick (The Women's History Project / National Library of Ireland, Dublin, 1999), recording aspects of Irish life in the 1950s and 1960s.
  • A calendar of the papers of the Ulster Unionist Women's Council, 1911–1942, edited by Diane Urquhart.
  • A database of material relating to women in the files of the Department of the Taoiseach, 1922–1966, held by the National Archives, edited by Catherine Cox and Leeann Lane.

The work of the Project opened up new areas of study and a greater understanding of the diverse experiences of women in Irish history.

Committee members

Síle Chuinneagáin, Catriona Crowe, Phil Kilroy, Rena Lohan, Margaret MacCurtain, Christine Meek, Eilís Ní Dhuibhne, Mary O'Dowd, Collette O'Flaherty, Rosemary Raughter, Liz Steiner Scott and Bernadette Whelan.

Latest news (2013)

The Anna Parnell Travel Grant was established in 2011 to promote research among early-stage scholars in Irishwomen's and gender history. The deadline for the 2013 grant was 31 January 2013, with the winner announced at the WHAI annual conference at the University of Limerick on 26–27 April 2013.

Records of this kind underpin much of the work summarised in Irish women's history, for example on the marriage bar.