Working Class Heroines: The Extraordinary Women of Dublin's Tenements
In Working Class Heroines acclaimed historian Kevin C. Kearns brings us the voices of the forgotten women of Dublin's tenements. If it weren't for his work the lives of these everyday heroines would be lost forever. Based on 30 years of research spent interviewing and recording the life stories of the working-class women of Dublin, it covers the squalid tenement days of the early 1900s, through the mid-century decades of 'slumland' block flats, and into the 1970s when deadly drugs infiltrated poor neighbourhoods, terrifying mothers and stealing away their children. What emerges is an intimate and poignant celebration of the mammies and grannies who held the fabric of family life in an environment of hardship and, often, cruelty.Through vivid tales of how they coped with grinding poverty, huge families, pitiless landlords, the oppressive Church, dictatorial priests, feckless and often abusive husbands, these remarkable women shine with astonishing dignity, wit, pride and a resilient spirit, despite their struggles.Working Class Heroines gives voice and pays tribute to the long silent, unsung heroines who were the indispensable caretakers of both family and community, and remains one of the most important Irish feminist documents of our times."The ordinary woman has long been absent from our national narrative. I think we should be grateful that Working Class Heroines exists, and we can benefit now from listening to these voices.' Ellen Coyne, The Sunday Times
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Working Class Heroines: The Extraordinary Women of Dublin's Tenements
In Working Class Heroines acclaimed historian Kevin C. Kearns brings us the voices of the forgotten women of Dublin's tenements. If it weren't for his work the lives of these everyday heroines would be lost forever. Based on 30 years of research spent interviewing and recording the life stories of the working-class women of Dublin, it covers the squalid tenement days of the early 1900s, through the mid-century decades of 'slumland' block flats, and into the 1970s when deadly drugs infiltrated poor neighbourhoods, terrifying mothers and stealing away their children. What emerges is an intimate and poignant celebration of the mammies and grannies who held the fabric of family life in an environment of hardship and, often, cruelty.Through vivid tales of how they coped with grinding poverty, huge families, pitiless landlords, the oppressive Church, dictatorial priests, feckless and often abusive husbands, these remarkable women shine with astonishing dignity, wit, pride and a resilient spirit, despite their struggles.Working Class Heroines gives voice and pays tribute to the long silent, unsung heroines who were the indispensable caretakers of both family and community, and remains one of the most important Irish feminist documents of our times."The ordinary woman has long been absent from our national narrative. I think we should be grateful that Working Class Heroines exists, and we can benefit now from listening to these voices.' Ellen Coyne, The Sunday Times
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Working Class Heroines: The Extraordinary Women of Dublin's Tenements

Working Class Heroines: The Extraordinary Women of Dublin's Tenements

by Kevin C. Kearns
Working Class Heroines: The Extraordinary Women of Dublin's Tenements

Working Class Heroines: The Extraordinary Women of Dublin's Tenements

by Kevin C. Kearns

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Overview

In Working Class Heroines acclaimed historian Kevin C. Kearns brings us the voices of the forgotten women of Dublin's tenements. If it weren't for his work the lives of these everyday heroines would be lost forever. Based on 30 years of research spent interviewing and recording the life stories of the working-class women of Dublin, it covers the squalid tenement days of the early 1900s, through the mid-century decades of 'slumland' block flats, and into the 1970s when deadly drugs infiltrated poor neighbourhoods, terrifying mothers and stealing away their children. What emerges is an intimate and poignant celebration of the mammies and grannies who held the fabric of family life in an environment of hardship and, often, cruelty.Through vivid tales of how they coped with grinding poverty, huge families, pitiless landlords, the oppressive Church, dictatorial priests, feckless and often abusive husbands, these remarkable women shine with astonishing dignity, wit, pride and a resilient spirit, despite their struggles.Working Class Heroines gives voice and pays tribute to the long silent, unsung heroines who were the indispensable caretakers of both family and community, and remains one of the most important Irish feminist documents of our times."The ordinary woman has long been absent from our national narrative. I think we should be grateful that Working Class Heroines exists, and we can benefit now from listening to these voices.' Ellen Coyne, The Sunday Times

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780717162703
Publisher: Gill Books
Publication date: 09/21/2018
Sold by: Bookwire
Format: eBook
Pages: 416
File size: 4 MB

About the Author

Kevin C. Kearns, Ph.D., is a social historian and Professor Emeritus at the University of Northern Colorado. He has written more than ten books on Dublin, most notably Dublin Tenement Life, which was number 1 on the Irish Times bestseller list for many weeks. He now resides in Maine.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Section 1

1 Tending to Home and Family 21

2 Making Ends Meet 41

3 "You Must Have Your Roof" 63

4 "Bejaysus, They Had Pride" 81

Section 2

5 "Like Young Lambs to the Slaughter" 97

6 "You Made Your Bed, You Lie In It" 115

7 "Babies by the Bundle" 130

Section 3

8 Unwed Mothers - "Unfortunate Girls" 147

9 "Little Mothers" 167

10 Grannies - The Grandest Mothers 180

11 "Mother Church" 199

Section 4

12 Delights and Diversions 223

13 A Ma Made Christmas 250

Section 5

14 Losing Young Ones - A Mother's Heartbreak 267

15 Drugs-A Mother's Dread 285

16 Solace for the Worn and Weary 313

Section 6

17 Sons' and Daughters' Memories of Ma 327

Section 7

18 When Mammies Die 349

Notes 383

Bibliography 393

Index 399

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