For Dublin's gay community, Irish Independence and the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922 heralded anything but freedom. While the new state promised change, the gay community faced decades of repression, arrest, and severe punishment. Yet despite this, they continued to build lives, relationships, and communities in the shadow of fear.In this episode, I am joined by historian Aevrill Earls to discuss her book Love in the Lav, a fascinating history of the community in Dublin in the decades after Irish independence. While repression is central to the story, this conversation also uncovers a more complicated picture of the community's relationship with wider Irish society and the ways people navigated a world shaped by surveillance, stigma, and silence.Get you copy of Aevrill's book Love in the LavBecome a supporter of the show patreon.com/irishpodcastGet you copy of Love in the LavIn Ireland - https://www.hodgesfiggis.ie/book/love-in-the-lav/averill-earls/9781439924167In the US Bookshop.org - https://bookshop.org/p/books/love-in-the-lav-a-social-biography-of-same-sex-desire-in-ireland-1922-1972-averill-earls/99753665e753ea33?ean=9781439924167&next=tAevril Earls is Associate Professor of History at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, Executive Producer of Dig: A History Podcast, and co-convener of the Reminiscence and Remembrance Oral History Project for LGBTQ+ Ireland.Sound: Kate Dunlea Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.