By the Spider's Bed

By the Spider's Bed is the story of an older inmate of the Women’s Penitentiary, awaiting transportation to Van Diemen’s Land. This is the second episode of the Flighty Creatures trilogy of short stories for podcast by Wexford-based writer, Sylvia Cullen. Inspired by women who dwelt in the Grangegorman Asylum, Penitentiary and Workhouse, these stories are set in the 18th and 19th centuries. Listen back to episode one, The Holding Room, which follows Asylum Attendant Muriel Hill facing a quandary when her patient refuses to have her image captured by the asylum photographer. Flighty Creatures is a project of Grangegorman Histories' ⁠public call⁠. Find out more about Grangegorman Histories on grangegormanhistories.ie Illustration by Fidelma Slattery.