Show options midwifery bag used throughout 1916 Rising and medical devices
A serious new exhibition celebrates the often-unsung contributions of neighborhood midwives to maternity care in Eire within the early twentieth century.
‘Mary Anne Fanning: Remembering Our Neighborhood Midwives’ opened yesterday on the Nationwide Museum of Eire – Nation Life at Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co. Mayo.
The non permanent exhibition is centred round Mary Anne Fanning, who labored as a District Midwife and Nurse in Co Kerry, after which in Garristown, Co Dublin, over the course of a protracted 48-year profession.
The undertaking additionally options the tales of midwives and nurses from Clare, Cork, Galway, Mayo, Tipperary & Wicklow, researched by 22 teams within the Irish Neighborhood Archive Community (iCAN).
The regulation of midwifery in Eire began earlier than the inspiration of the State, in 1918, and is ongoing right now. Start over this time has advanced from most births occurring at dwelling within the early twentieth century, to 30 per cent within the Nineteen Fifties, three per cent within the Seventies and 0.3 per cent within the Nineteen Nineties.
The exhibition options a number of objects referring to Mary Anne Fanning, together with her 124-year-old leather-based midwifery bag, which was used to render medical assist to senior commander Thomas Ashe, in addition to different volunteers throughout the 1916 Rising.
Mary Anne was a well-recognized and welcome determine in her district – travelling in all types of climate together with her midwifery bag in her bicycle basket. She could possibly be away from her household for days and nights at a time. She was a forward-thinking and impartial girl by all accounts and later in her profession, she had a Mannequin Ford T motor automotive to help her in her work.
Such was the significance positioned on her work, that the difficulty of her petrol allow was raised within the Dáil throughout World Conflict II and acquired a response from the then Minister of Provides, Seán Lemass. Paperwork detailing this change additionally function within the exhibition.
The show additionally options a few of Mary Anne’s medical devices, her midwifery certificates, a writing bureau, and a christening robe from 1902 (nonetheless in use) by the household.
A video consists of recollections from her grandchildren with a brief movie clip of Mary Anne, plus an oil portray by her great-great-granddaughter, and poetry in her reminiscence. Audio recordings delve into the lifetime of a rural midwife, trendy midwifery, and birthing customs, with insights from Kathleen Ward, a 93-year-old member of the Travelling neighborhood.
Mary Anne Fanning’s midwifery bag, from which she rendered assist to volunteers throughout the 1916 Easter Rising, and a few medical devices. Pic: Nationwide Museum of Eire
Guests also can interact with audio recordings, touchscreen tales, and private reflections from midwives and their households. The exhibition invitations the general public to contribute their very own recollections by means of a ‘Midwives’ Reminiscence E-book’, encouraging a collective reflection on the function of midwifery in Irish communities.
The exhibition is researched and curated by neighborhood curator Emma Laffey of the Skehana and District Heritage Group, County Galway, with help from co-curators Dr Éimear O’Connor of the Nationwide Museum of Eire, and Lorna Elms of iCAN.
“By way of my work as a healthcare assistant, I used to be at all times very excited about a time when girls solely birthed their infants at dwelling,” Emma mentioned.
“It was a time that carried immense dangers and vulnerabilities for each the mom and the kid. Understanding the ladies who guided moms by means of that point was so fascinating to me, much more so once I found that my very own great-grandmother died from ‘maternal exhaustion’,” she added.
“These girls overcame so many limitations to get educated and work for themselves. They had been pillars of the neighborhood, and I’m delighted they’re being given the popularity they deserve.”
Pacelli Linscheid, who’s a granddaughter of Mary Anne Fanning, mentioned; “I’m so extremely proud to see the legacy of my grandmother honoured on this manner by the Nationwide Museum of Eire. Her dedication to the neighborhood and to serving to households of their most susceptible moments is one thing that has impressed generations of our household.”
A public programme will accompany the exhibition. Highlights embrace a chat on neighborhood midwives by Emma Laffey (October 19), a chat by Lisa McGeeney on the professionalism of nursing and midwifery within the poor-law unions between 1882 and 1922 (November 17), a lace demonstration by the Headford Lace Venture (December 6), and a child rattle-making workshop (February 7). Different occasions embrace talks on nursing professionalism, midwifery traditions, and a midwifery family tree workshop.
This non permanent exhibition, ‘Mary Anne Fanning: Remembering Our Neighborhood Midwives’, will run on the Nationwide Museum of Eire – Nation Life in Mayo till March 2025. Admission is free.
