Katherine O'Donnell, director of an Irish Research Council project on recording the archival and oral history of the Irish Magdalenes, reveals how she came to undertake the project. She describes how she learned to deal with vicarious trauma and how the Magdalene oral history collection has an added significance given the imposed silence on the survivors of residential institutional abuse who participated in the Residential Institutions Redress Board. She closes with a description of how the Magdalene Oral history is aligned with the processes of Transitional Justice and proposes that the Republic of Ireland might adopt the central principles of Truth-Telling, Accountability, Reparations and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence.

About the speaker

Dr Katherine O'Donnell is Associate Professor, History of Ideas, UCD School of Philosophy and one of the five members of Justice for Magdalenes Research. For ten years she was the Director of UCD Women's Studies Centre and she has published widely on the History of Ideas in Eighteenth Century Ireland, on the history of sexuality and Irish literature.

About the Heritage Podcast Series

To Preserve and Protect: Contemporary Issues in Irish Cultural Heritage

This is a series of eight 20 minute podcasts by academic researchers and leaders of major Irish heritage institutions. The series addresses questions of critical importance in Irish heritage. Opportunities and challenges of preservation and protection of Irish cultural heritage are addressed. It also provides a valuable and educational resource recorded by experts in heritage and preservation, which is publicly accessible to prompt thought and discussion.

Developed and produced by the Historical Studies Committee of the Royal Irish Academy. Supported by The Heritage Council as part of the 2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage. Recorded by Real Smart Media.

Podcasts released weekly - listen to the latest episodes here: www.ria.ie/heritagepodcast