A new temporary exhibition, Mary Anne Fanning: Remembering Our Community Midwives, which opens at the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life at Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, today (3 October 2024) celebrates the often-unsung contributions of community midwives to maternity care in Ireland in the early 20th century.
This exhibition is a project by the Irish Community Archive Network (iCAN), researched and curated by community curator Emma Laffey, Skehana & District Heritage Group, County Galway, with support from co-curators Dr Éimear O’Connor, Director of Collections & Access, National Museum of Ireland, and Lorna Elms, iCAN Development Officer. Deirdre Naughton, Director of Midwifery at Portiuncula Hospital was guest speaker at the launch today.
Centred around Mary Anne Fanning, who worked as a District Midwife and Nurse in Co Kerry and then in Garristown, Co Dublin, over the course of a 48-year long career, the exhibition also features the stories of midwives and nurses from Clare, Cork, Galway, Mayo, Tipperary and Wicklow, researched by 22 groups in the Irish Community Archive Network (iCAN).
Regulation of midwifery in Ireland started before the foundation of the State, in 1918, and is ongoing today. Birth over this time has evolved from most births happening at home in the early 20th century, to 30% in the 1950s, 3% in the 1970s and 0.3% in the 1990s. There has been a recent upsurge in the number of women planning birth at home, with demand well more than what can be provided by the available private and public midwifery led services.
The exhibition features several objects relating to Mary Anne Fanning, including her 124-year-old leather midwifery bag, which was used to render medical aid to senior commander Thomas Ashe, as well as other volunteers during the 1916 Rising.
Mary Anne was a familiar and welcome figure in her district, travelling with her midwifery bag in the basket on her bicycle, in all sorts of weather. She could be away from her family for days and nights at a time. She was a forward thinking and independent woman by all accounts and later in her career, she had a Model Ford T motor car to aid her in her work.
Such was the importance placed on her work, that the issue of her petrol permit was raised in the Dáil during World War II and received a response from the then Minister of Supplies, Seán Lemass. Documents detailing this exchange also feature in the exhibition.
The exhibition also features some of Mary Anne’s medical instruments, her midwifery certificates, a writing bureau, and a christening gown from 1902 still in use by the family.
A video includes memories from her grandchildren with a short cinefilm clip of Mary Anne, plus an oil painting by her great-great-granddaughter, and poetry in her memory. Audio recordings delve into the life of a rural midwife, modern midwifery, and birthing customs, with insights from Kathleen Ward, a 93-year-old member of the Travelling community.
Visitors can also engage with audio recordings, touchscreen stories, and personal reflections from midwives and their families. The exhibition invites the public to contribute their own memories through a Midwives’ Memory Book, encouraging a collective reflection on the role of midwifery in Irish communities.
Community curator Emma Laffey, a healthcare assistant in the maternity department at Portiuncula Hospital, Galway, and a mother of six, began researching the history of community midwifery while exploring her family history. Discovering her great-grandmother's death from "maternal exhaustion" led Emma to delve into the important role of community midwives in early 20th-century Ireland. Her research culminated in her award-winning book An Bhean Ghlúine, which explored the lives of these “women of the knee” or “handy women.” This book was funded by the Heritage Council and provided the inspiration for this new temporary exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland in Co. Mayo.
This exhibition is significant for the National Museum as it is a physical manifestation of the valuable work being done by volunteers around the country documenting their local history in digital community archives, with support from the Irish Community Archive Network (iCAN). iCAN is the leading organisation championing and supporting digital community archives in Ireland. It supports volunteer groups to gather, record, and share their community’s history and heritage online. An initiative of the National Museum of Ireland, iCAN is delivered in partnership with the Heritage Council and participating Local Authority Heritage Officers.
Director of the National Museum of Ireland, Lynn Scarff, said:
This exhibition is a tribute to the extraordinary work of community midwives, whose dedication and care helped shape the lives of countless families across Ireland. Through this exhibition, we not only honour the legacy of its subjects, but we also celebrate the dedication of volunteers and heritage groups who continue to preserve and share these remarkable stories in digital archives. It is a powerful reminder of the value of community history in understanding our shared past.”
Community Curator Emma Laffey added:
Through my work as a healthcare assistant, I was always very interested in a time when women only birthed their babies at home. It was a time that carried immense risks and vulnerabilities for both the mother and the child. Understanding the women who guided mothers through that time was so fascinating to me, even more so when I discovered that my own great-grandmother died from “maternal exhaustion”. These women overcame so many barriers to get educated and work for themselves. They were pillars of the community, and I am delighted they are being given the recognition they deserve.”
Chief Executive of the Heritage Council, Virginia Teehan, said:
The Heritage Council was proud to fund Emma Laffey’s book, An Bhean Ghlúine, which inspired this exhibition. Laffey’s book and this exhibition remind us of the importance of local midwifes in providing culturally sensitive, community-based care, addressing unique challenges such as geographic isolation, limited access to medical facilities, and the need for personalised care. Acknowledging these heroines recognises their self-sufficiency and preserves traditional healthcare knowledge within localities. Our continued support of iCAN gives voice to local communities and I am thrilled to see it grow from strength to strength and expand across the country.”
iCAN Development Officer, Lorna Elms, said:
iCAN equips volunteers with the training they need to build digital archives for their communities. The work these volunteers do is invaluable, preserving local history and heritage in a way that connects generations and fosters a shared pride in their community. In a way, this exhibition is culmination of what communities can do when they are empowered to document their own history. I am thrilled to see some of that knowledge given the status of an exhibition at our National Museum.”
Pacelli Linscheid, who is a granddaughter of Mary Anne Fanning, said:
I am so incredibly proud to see the legacy of my grandmother honoured in this way by the National Museum of Ireland. Her dedication to the community and to helping families in their most vulnerable moments is something that has inspired generations of our family.”
A public program will accompany the duration of the exhibition. Highlights include a talk on community midwives by Emma Laffey (Oct 19), a talk by Lisa McGeeney on the professionalism of nursing and midwifery in the poor-law unions between 1882 and 1922 (November 17), a lace demonstration by the Headford Lace Project (December 6), and a baby rattle-making workshop (February 7). Other events include talks on nursing professionalism, midwifery traditions, and a midwifery genealogy workshop.
This temporary exhibition, Mary Anne Fanning: Remembering Our Community Midwives, will run at the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life in Mayo until March 2025. Admission is free.
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To view high-res images of some objects featured in the exhibition click here
Photography to be issued by Brian Farrell, brianfarrellphotographer@gmail.com, 087 982 8412
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
Media contact: Q4 Public Relations: Sinéad McGovern, sinead@q4pr.ie 087 6411725
Sabrina D’Angelo sabrina@q4pr.ie 086 0323397
About the National Museum of Ireland
The National Museum of Ireland is the nation’s premier cultural institution and home to the greatest collections of Irish heritage, culture and history. Admission is free.
The National Museum of Ireland has 4 public sites, and a Collections Repository:
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National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology (Kildare Street, Dublin)
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National Museum of Ireland – Natural History (Merrion Street, Dublin)
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National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts & History (Collins Barracks, Dublin)
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National Museum of Ireland – Country Life (Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co. Mayo)
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Collections Resource Centre (Swords) (Not open to the public)
Website: www.museum.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NationalMuseumofIreland
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NMIreland
Instagram: @nationalmuseumofireland
About the Irish Community Archive Network – iCAN
Community Archives are collections that reflect a shared history, identity, experience or interest. They are created by, with and for the community. The main aim of iCAN is to encourage and support volunteer groups to collect, digitise and share their community’s history and heritage online.
Since 2009, iCAN has supported the creation of 36 online digital archives in Clare, Cork, Galway, Mayo and Wicklow, and there are currently 10 further archives in development across Clare, Tipperary and Wicklow.
Over 230 volunteers are involved in managing and supporting the existing community archives
Together, they have ambitions to support the development of at least 80 digital archives across Ireland by 2028.
The iCAN network has been visited 5.3 million times by visitors from 230 countries, or 16,400 cities, across the world - more than 7.5 million pages of Irish heritage content have been explored.
Members of the public are invited to visit, contribute to and to volunteer with the digital archives in the Irish Community Archive Network (iCAN). The full list of archives is available at www.ouririshheritage.org