7 research outputs found
Documentary Sources for Magdalen History and the Challenges
This paper is based on research in both an already published history of
the institutions run by the Sisters of Our Lady of Refuge in Ireland (more
commonly known as Our Lady of Charity, abbreviated as OLC) and a
forthcoming study of the order’s archival collections.
The weight of negative publicity around the Magdalen asylums, or laundries,
creates special difficulties of interpretation for a project of this kind. It can be
hard to read the history of OLC impartially. There is a need, as such, to handle
the material with care and to step back, in order to understand it in context. At
the same time one has to be sensitive in dealing with this history, respecting
what it may mean for persons formerly resident in Magdalen institutions or
connected with them in other ways. Self-awareness in the researcher is allimportant: awareness of one’s epistemological, methodological, ideological
and practical positioning, one’s limitations as a researcher and how one’s
stance is always coloured by cultural conditioning and previous experience.2
In my research, intended to be a contribution to scholarship, every effort has
been made to deal critically and fairly with the available sources, drawing on
historical, geographical and theological understandings that have developed
over several decades. The present paper attempts to address some of the
difficulties and challenges involved in establishing and understanding the
historical record
Documentary Sources for Magdalen History and the Challenges
This paper is based on research in both an already published history of
the institutions run by the Sisters of Our Lady of Refuge in Ireland (more
commonly known as Our Lady of Charity, abbreviated as OLC) and a
forthcoming study of the order’s archival collections.
The weight of negative publicity around the Magdalen asylums, or laundries,
creates special difficulties of interpretation for a project of this kind. It can be
hard to read the history of OLC impartially. There is a need, as such, to handle
the material with care and to step back, in order to understand it in context. At
the same time one has to be sensitive in dealing with this history, respecting
what it may mean for persons formerly resident in Magdalen institutions or
connected with them in other ways. Self-awareness in the researcher is allimportant: awareness of one’s epistemological, methodological, ideological
and practical positioning, one’s limitations as a researcher and how one’s
stance is always coloured by cultural conditioning and previous experience.2
In my research, intended to be a contribution to scholarship, every effort has
been made to deal critically and fairly with the available sources, drawing on
historical, geographical and theological understandings that have developed
over several decades. The present paper attempts to address some of the
difficulties and challenges involved in establishing and understanding the
historical record
The local history project: co-operating North and South, A report
Local history is an important and popular pursuit throughout both Northern
Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In the local community setting the study of
local history crosses social, political, religious and economic divides and fosters an
understanding of the complex forces behind the making of local identity. It can
play a vital role in improving community relations and fostering respect for
cultural difference. Research in local history is greatly enriched by being
conducted in an all-Ireland context.
This research project provides the basis for the first all-Ireland register of local
history societies, including those affiliated to the Federation of Local History
Societies (FLHS), those affiliated to the Federation of Ulster Local Studies (FULS),
and those with no formal affiliation to any federation, which comprise by far the
largest group. It also assesses the existing linkages between local history societies
north and south of the border, and investigates the provision of
training/education in local history methodology. Through a major questionnaire
survey, and the collaboration of the local history federations, it succeeds in
identifying 330 societies, considerably more than was previously estimated, but
still an incomplete listing. The research team predict that a complete list would
exceed 500 societies north and south, involving an active membership of perhaps
28,000 persons, and reaching into most parishes on the island.
Recommendations are made on minimising the obstacles to cross-border cooperation, the promotion of visits to repositories in the other jurisdiction, and the
strengthening of the institutional basis of cross-border co-operation, most
notably the role of the local history federations. The Border Counties History
Collective, Blacklion, Co Cavan provides a working model of effective grassroots,
non-threatening, non-centralised collaboration that reaches across religious,
cultural and political divides
Documentary Sources for Magdalen History and the Challenges
This paper is based on research in both an already published history of
the institutions run by the Sisters of Our Lady of Refuge in Ireland (more
commonly known as Our Lady of Charity, abbreviated as OLC) and a
forthcoming study of the order’s archival collections.
The weight of negative publicity around the Magdalen asylums, or laundries,
creates special difficulties of interpretation for a project of this kind. It can be
hard to read the history of OLC impartially. There is a need, as such, to handle
the material with care and to step back, in order to understand it in context. At
the same time one has to be sensitive in dealing with this history, respecting
what it may mean for persons formerly resident in Magdalen institutions or
connected with them in other ways. Self-awareness in the researcher is allimportant: awareness of one’s epistemological, methodological, ideological
and practical positioning, one’s limitations as a researcher and how one’s
stance is always coloured by cultural conditioning and previous experience.2
In my research, intended to be a contribution to scholarship, every effort has
been made to deal critically and fairly with the available sources, drawing on
historical, geographical and theological understandings that have developed
over several decades. The present paper attempts to address some of the
difficulties and challenges involved in establishing and understanding the
historical record
The local history project: co-operating North and South, A report
Local history is an important and popular pursuit throughout both Northern
Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In the local community setting the study of
local history crosses social, political, religious and economic divides and fosters an
understanding of the complex forces behind the making of local identity. It can
play a vital role in improving community relations and fostering respect for
cultural difference. Research in local history is greatly enriched by being
conducted in an all-Ireland context.
This research project provides the basis for the first all-Ireland register of local
history societies, including those affiliated to the Federation of Local History
Societies (FLHS), those affiliated to the Federation of Ulster Local Studies (FULS),
and those with no formal affiliation to any federation, which comprise by far the
largest group. It also assesses the existing linkages between local history societies
north and south of the border, and investigates the provision of
training/education in local history methodology. Through a major questionnaire
survey, and the collaboration of the local history federations, it succeeds in
identifying 330 societies, considerably more than was previously estimated, but
still an incomplete listing. The research team predict that a complete list would
exceed 500 societies north and south, involving an active membership of perhaps
28,000 persons, and reaching into most parishes on the island.
Recommendations are made on minimising the obstacles to cross-border cooperation, the promotion of visits to repositories in the other jurisdiction, and the
strengthening of the institutional basis of cross-border co-operation, most
notably the role of the local history federations. The Border Counties History
Collective, Blacklion, Co Cavan provides a working model of effective grassroots,
non-threatening, non-centralised collaboration that reaches across religious,
cultural and political divides
The local history project: co-operating North and South, A report
Local history is an important and popular pursuit throughout both Northern
Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In the local community setting the study of
local history crosses social, political, religious and economic divides and fosters an
understanding of the complex forces behind the making of local identity. It can
play a vital role in improving community relations and fostering respect for
cultural difference. Research in local history is greatly enriched by being
conducted in an all-Ireland context.
This research project provides the basis for the first all-Ireland register of local
history societies, including those affiliated to the Federation of Local History
Societies (FLHS), those affiliated to the Federation of Ulster Local Studies (FULS),
and those with no formal affiliation to any federation, which comprise by far the
largest group. It also assesses the existing linkages between local history societies
north and south of the border, and investigates the provision of
training/education in local history methodology. Through a major questionnaire
survey, and the collaboration of the local history federations, it succeeds in
identifying 330 societies, considerably more than was previously estimated, but
still an incomplete listing. The research team predict that a complete list would
exceed 500 societies north and south, involving an active membership of perhaps
28,000 persons, and reaching into most parishes on the island.
Recommendations are made on minimising the obstacles to cross-border cooperation, the promotion of visits to repositories in the other jurisdiction, and the
strengthening of the institutional basis of cross-border co-operation, most
notably the role of the local history federations. The Border Counties History
Collective, Blacklion, Co Cavan provides a working model of effective grassroots,
non-threatening, non-centralised collaboration that reaches across religious,
cultural and political divides