The Women of Ireland Project

Oscar Wilde once said, “An Irishman only discovers himself when he goes abroad.” That was certainly true for me — not just as an Irish person, but as an Irish woman.

In 2014 I moved to London to pursue a PhD. At the time, leaving my home county of Wicklow, in Ireland, and moving to the UK didn’t seem like that big of a deal— ‘I was only going across the pond.’ But in London’s cultural melting pot, something shifted. I began to see —and feel— how deeply my sense of self had been shaped by growing up in Ireland.

The beliefs I carried about womanhood, the rules I followed, the expectations I placed upon myself, and the stories I lived by were not simply personal, they were cultural. I was both a woman and of Ireland, and that intersectionality mattered.

What began as an initial curiosity about the cultural forces that had shaped me grew into a deeper questioning:

What stories have we, the Women of Ireland, inherited?
Where did they come from, and how have they shaped us?

I wanted to uncover the deeper cultural scripts, and expectations, that have informed the lives of generations of women.

I wanted to name them so we could understand how we have come to be the way we are.

I wanted to make sense of them so we could heal from, transform and rewrite the stories that have kept us stuck.

And from this The Women of Ireland Project was born.

The Women of Ireland Project is a heart-led, scientifically rooted cultural research project dedicated to understanding how women of Ireland have come to be the way they are.

Through a powerful blend of life history interviews with women, sociocultural theory, and historical research it aims to reveal the hidden forces—personal, cultural, historical, institutional—that have shaped the lives of generations of women.

It’s mission is to bring these forces to light so that women of Ireland can rewrite the stories and cultural narratives that have kept them stuck and move forward with those that support.

This project is guided by the belief that we are the stories we tell ourselves. At its heart is a deep desire to uncover the dominant cultural narratives and unspoken expectations that have defined womanhood in Ireland. From inherited archeytpes to internalised beliefs, this work seeks to name what has shaped us—so that we might finally choose what we carry forward, and what we leave behind.

The Women of Ireland Project blends rigorous social science research with the lived experiences of contemporary Women of Ireland. It includes:

• Oral history interviews: At the heart of the project are the life stories shared by 37 women of Ireland from different generations, geographies and backgrounds

• Historical and socio-cultural research: Rigourous, depth research into the institutions, ideologies, systems and cultural narratives that have influenced women's lives

• Thematic analysis: An examination of patterns in women’s lives, such as silence, shame, resilience, strength, challenging and claiming sovereignty

• Public offerings and outputs: Essays on Substack, talks, workshops, courses and books exploring themes and revelations uncovered by the project

The ultimate goal of the project has always been the writing of a book which answers that question of, “How have we, the Women of Ireland, come to be the way we are?”

This book is now nearing its completion.

However, at a deeper level, it’s goal is to move things. To use the power of story to move things which may have kept women stuck living by the ideals and norms prescribed by Irish culture and society.

It’s about rethinking old beliefs, reclaiming our stories and making space for individual and generational healing and transformation.