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