‘The melancholy partakers of his calamities and poverty’: Writing Women’s Voices From 1798 and 1803

THE LINEN HALL BIRTHDAY LECTURE

Linda McKenna has been researching the experiences of women from County Down and beyond during the 1798 and 1803 rebellions in a variety of archival sources, including The Linen Hall. These records allow us to hear a wide variety of women’s voices detailing how they navigated one of the bloodiest periods in our history. From those who were no ‘meddlers in politicks’ or ‘mere echoes’, to those who were ‘friends and well-wishers of their country’, ‘infamous prostitutes’ or ‘reduced to absolute want’, archival sources in Ireland present an astonishing array of different female responses to the conflict.

Linda is now using that research to inspire a collection of poetry that will recreate those voices in all their diversity. This talk will focus on some of the documents relating to women in 1798 and 1803, what they tell us about the time and how they are relevant today.