Last week, Trinity College announced that the main library in its city centre campus has been renamed after Irish poet Eavan Boland. It will be the first building on Trinity's grounds to be named after a woman. This week, in more good news for Irish female writers, the Mary Lavin Place will also be publicly unveiled in Wilton Park, in Dublin’s south side. It’s a public plaza to commemorate the famous writer who lived nearby on Lad Lane with her three daughters. In today’s episode, Róisín Ingle is joined by Lavin’s granddaughter Kathleen MacMahon to talk about the writer's extraordinary life and what this commemoration means to the family. We’re also joined by historian, lecturer, and Director of Gender Studies at UCD Mary McAuliffe who campaigned in 2013 for the Rosie Hackett bridge to be named after the Irish revolutionary activist. McAuliffe explains why so few Irish streets or spaces are named after women and what can be done to change this. 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.