With the courageous shows of defiance against the misogynistic Islamic Republic in Iran and the rights of women and girls continuing to be eroded by the Taliban in Afghanistan, two women discuss the devastating, unjust situation in their countries. Mahya Ostovar, a lecturer at University of Galway left Iran ten years ago and Mahbooba Faiz, arrived in Ireland a few months ago from Afghanistan with her husband and young son. They spoke to Roisin Ingle about the wave of protest against the Islamic ...
Dec 01, 2022•54 min
It was a chance meeting in 1992 which brought Ennis women Colette Reddington and Mary Fitzgerald together. When their paths crossed, both were seeking shelter for victims of domestic abuse, but were struggling to find local services. After realising there were no refuges available, not only in their hometown of Ennis, but in the entire county of Clare, the women decided to take action. Now, their incredible thirty year journey helping those fleeing abusive homes, is the subject of a new book Lig...
Nov 28, 2022•45 min
When her career stalled during the Covid lockdown, actor and writer Roise Holt moved back to her parents house in Somerset and began creating comedy videos from her old bedroom. The videos skewering British politicians went viral propelling her into newfound stardom as a parody MP. In this episode, Rosie talks to Róisín Ingle about the success of her satirical videos and why they resonated so well with her fans. They also talk about her new comedy show ‘The Woman’s Hour’ and the ever-entertainin...
Nov 24, 2022•35 min
CervicalCheck campaigner Vicky Phelan died this week, at the age of 48. Over the years, Vicky has joined us on a number of occasions as a guest on the podcast, sharing her story and her journey through treatment. Today we celebrate the life of an extraordinary Limerick woman who fought for justice for so many. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Nov 17, 2022•59 min
Teresa Deevy may not be a familiar name to most people, but it should be. Born in 1894, the Waterford woman, who was deaf from the age of nineteen, was a successful dramatist and playwright. In the 1930s, six of her plays were performed on stage in the Abbey Theatre and her reputation as a brilliant and talented writer had critics referring to her as next Sean O'Casey and the ‘Irish Chekhov’. That was until, Ernest Blythe became artistic director of the Abbey in 1941 and declared his vision for ...
Nov 10, 2022•43 min
Last month, Aimée Foley emerged from the Central Criminal Courts of Justice with a smile on her face. The 21 year-old had been fighting to get her father’s prison sentence increased, after he had received just five years for raping and sexually abusing her as a child. Following an appeal by the DPP, Michael O’Donoghue of Colmanstown, Ballinasloe, Co Galway had his jail term almost doubled, meaning he will be in prison for the next nine years. In this episode Aimée explains how the sexual abuse b...
Nov 03, 2022•1 hr 8 min
This month on The Women’s Podcast book club, we’ve been reading Lucy by the Sea by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Strout. Set in the early days of the pandemic, it tells the story of Lucy Barton who moves to Maine during lockdown, to live with her ex-husband William in a small house by the sea. Leaving her life in New York behind, Lucy must now spend the next several months in the company of the man she once loved and their complex past. So what did our book clubbers Bernice Harrison, N...
Oct 30, 2022•33 min
This week marks ten years since the death of Savita Halappanavar, who died on the 28th October 2012. The young Indian woman was seventeen weeks pregnant when she presented to University Hospital Galway complaining of severe back pain. Although informed by doctors that she was actively miscarrying, she was denied access to an abortion, despite multiple requests. One week later, she was dead. What followed was a public outpouring of grief and calls for a change to Ireland’s strict abortion laws. P...
Oct 27, 2022•1 hr 2 min
Last year, as part of their ‘Storyland’ initiative, RTE invited budding writers and creative talent to submit their ideas for original and new local drama. From the hundreds of submissions, three dramas were eventually chosen to go into production, all written by women. The first of which airs tonight on RTE2 at 9:30pm. It’s called Mustard and was created by actress and playwright Eva O’Connor. Originally a theatre show, Mustard tells the story of Eilis and her addiction to the spicy yellow cond...
Oct 20, 2022•41 min
When Maryam Mohitmafi arrived in Ireland with her husband two years ago, she was seeking a better life. A life where she could be free to choose what to wear, where to work and what religion to practice. A life with “basic freedoms” that are not available to women in her home country of Iran. From her new home in Dublin, the 31 year-old watches on as the women of Iran fight for those freedoms. Over the past month, thousands have taken to the streets to protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a yo...
Oct 13, 2022•50 min
Total is the brand new book from author and filmmaker Rebecca Miller. It has just been released, but the wheels were set in motion for this collection of short stories, almost two decades ago. It was during the pandemic, when Miller, the daughter of playwright Arthur Miller and acclaimed photographer Inge Morath, finally found the time and space needed to flesh out and expand her ideas. In Total, there are seven short stories, many exploring themes of motherhood, family and creativity, often wit...
Oct 06, 2022•39 min
Kate Ewart-Biggs was just eight years-old, when her father, Christopher Ewart-Biggs, the former British Ambassador to Ireland was assassinated by the IRA, just two weeks after the family arrived into the country. Looking back on that day in 1976, Ewart-Biggs says she spent “a lovely morning” with her father, before he left their home to attend an official meeting. Minutes later, the explosion from a bomb which detonated underneath her father’s car could be heard as she played in their front gard...
Sep 29, 2022•45 min
When Alice Ryan began writing her first novel There's Been A Little Incident, a debut about familial love and lifelong friendship, it was an "act of hope" in the face of terrible loss. 11 years ago, her mother, former literary editor of The Irish Times Caroline Walsh, died by suicide while suffering from a debilitating illness. Ryan, a grand-daughter of the late writer Mary Lavin, was initially rejected by publishers but persevered until her book "a novel about grief, that is hopeful" won her a ...
Sep 22, 2022•44 min
When Edwina Dunn was a young girl, she dreamed of becoming a long distance truck driver and living a very glamorous life on the road. While she didn’t quite achieve that goal, she did go on to become a very successful business woman and the brains behind the Tesco Clubcard. In the early 1990s, she and her husband Clive brought their expertise in data science to the boardroom of Tesco and helped them become one of the most successful retailers in the world. After selling their stake in Tesco for ...
Sep 15, 2022•1 hr 4 min
Girlcrush is the brand new novel from writer and illustrator Florence Given. It follows the journey of Eartha, a young woman fresh out of a relationship, coming to terms with her sexuality and dealing with her growing online fame. It’s the second book from the writer who brought us Women Don’t Owe You Pretty which explores all corners of the feminist conversation. Given speaks to Róisín Ingle about her move to fiction, how she deals with her own success, creating online boundaries for herself an...
Sep 08, 2022•51 min
It’s Fringe time again and as usual, the Dublin Fringe Festival has a host of female-led art and showomanship to discover. In today’s episode we highlight some of the brilliant events by women taking place in venues across the capital from the 10th to the 25th of September. (You won't want to miss Growler, the story of an 82-year-old inner-city vulva for just one brilliant example). Róisín Ingle is joined in this episode by the women of Hive City Legacy: Dublin Chapter, a project from the Hot Br...
Sep 01, 2022•28 min
Factory Girls by Michelle Gallen is the latest book up for discussion on the book club. Set in the summer of 1994, the story follows the lives of Maeve and her two friends, who begin working in the local shirt factory in a small border town in Northern Ireland, while awaiting their A-Level results. As the summer unfolds, tensions rise in the factory between the Catholic and Protestant workers and the young women dream of lives elsewhere. Our book clubbers Bernice Harrison, Róisín and Ann Ingle a...
Aug 28, 2022•24 min
We cannot resolve the climate emergency without fighting for gender equality. Women, especially poor women of colour, are suffering most as a result of the climate crisis, our highest-profile climate activists are women and girls and yet, at the top table it is men who are deciding the earth’s future. In her latest book, How Women Can Save the Planet, award-winning journalist Anne Karpf argues that when it comes to fighting climate change we are not all in it together, but we could be. In today’...
Aug 25, 2022•1 hr 5 min
In the 1960s and 70s, the name Karen was one of the most popular baby names for girls. Now, not so much. With the rise of the Karen meme, the name has gradually become associated with obnoxious and entitled behaviour, usually demonstrated by a white, angry, middle-class woman. In this episode, Róisín Ingle speaks to two Irish Karens, Karen O’Donoghue and Karen Hand, about how their once loved name evolved into a meme and an insult. They also examine which particular qualities of the stereotypica...
Aug 18, 2022•31 min
Harry Potter star Evanna Lynch was just 11 when her eating disorder began to manifest. She struggled for several years with anorexia, with spells in and out of hospital including a three month stay in a facility in England. In her memoir, The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting, she explores with breathtaking clarity, her path to recovery and her struggle to deal with the complexities and contradictions within herself. Now 30 and living in London, she talked to Roisin Ingle about navigating all of thi...
Aug 11, 2022•57 min
In this podcast recorded in September 2021, Róisín talks to the journalist, author and presenter of the brilliant How To Fail podcast Elizabeth Day. She has just published her latest novel, Magpie, a thrilling, stylish and psychologically astute story of jealousy, motherhood and power. In this funny, moving and revealing conversation, Day explains how some of the book’s themes relate to her own life, why it was important to her to write about mental illness with sensitivity and why she is a Derr...
Aug 04, 2022•52 min
Aoife Farrelly was just six years-old, when her older brother Cian began sexually abusing her. The abuse lasted two years and stopped when she told her parents what was happening. Last month, he was jailed for three years after pleading guilty to rape and sexual assault. Now aged twenty-one, Aoife plans to rebuild her life, ‘heal her inner child’ and not let the abuse define her. In this episode, she speaks to Roisin Ingle about her decision to waive her anonymity, the road to recovery and her n...
Jul 28, 2022•48 min
Launched in 2015, Love Island is one of the most successful reality dating shows on TV. Despite a number of controversies through the years, the show still attracts millions of viewers every night. So why is it so compelling to watch and what keeps us coming back for more? In this episode Róisín Ingle is joined by three avid Love Island viewers, writer and philosopher Laura Kennedy, baker Gerry Godley and his thirteen year-old daughter Amalia Godley. Together they discuss the highs and lows of t...
Jul 21, 2022•45 min
The price of everything is on the rise. From petrol, groceries, energy and gas, every facet of our lives has been affected. So why is everything so expensive and how can we make our money stretch further? In this episode, Róisín Ingle speaks to two budgeting experts Caz Mooney and Kel Galavan, who both share their money and saving tips through their Instagram profiles @Irishbudegting and @Mrssmartmoneyhq We also hear from Irish Times political correspondent Jennifer Bray, who explains why inflat...
Jul 14, 2022•52 min
Set in the seaside town of Tramore, Co Waterford, The Amusements by Aingeala Flannery follows the lives of the Grant and Swaine families and their neighbours, over three decades. The story is woven together by this diverse cast of characters who capture the joy, frustration and limitations of small town life. In this episode, the author speaks to Róisín Ingle about her own childhood summers spent on the beach in Tramore, her decision to leave radio journalism to pursue writing full time and why ...
Jul 07, 2022•39 min
Following on from the landmark decision by the US Supreme Court last week to overturn Roe v Wade, abortion is now restricted in at least seven states, with trigger bans set to take effect in several more. In today’s episode, Róisín Ingle is joined by women’s rights advocate Dr Erica Goldblatt Hyatt and American journalist, poet and essayist Katha Pollitt to discuss this “assault on human rights” and the impact it will have on the millions of American women who now face restricted access to repro...
Jun 30, 2022•46 min
In this book club episode, Niamh Towey, Bernice Harrison, Róisín and Ann Ingle discuss Trespasses by Derry writer Louise Kennedy. Set in Belfast, during the Troubles, it explores the relationship between a young Catholic woman and a married Protestant barrister. The group also share their summer reading recommendations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 26, 2022•39 min
Cork writer Louise O’Neill’s latest book Idol delves into the heart and mind of a super influencer in the wellness world. In this episode she talks to Róisín Ingle about the book, her third novel for adults, and the thorny topics it throws up like consent, eating disorders, cancel culture and the authenticity of influencers. We also hear from Alice Kelly, a Leaving Cert student who is planning a pop-up bakery run out of a vintage pony box, in today’s episode. Alice has taken it upon herself to r...
Jun 23, 2022•52 min
Naomi Long grew up in a staunchly unionist, east Belfast community. But as a centrist politician she has led the Alliance Party to become the third largest in Northern Ireland. In this episode, she speaks to Kathy Sheridan about her matriarchal upbringing, her struggle with endometriosis, misogyny in politics, her faith and her primary school teacher’s appearance in Derry Girls. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jun 16, 2022•1 hr
The writer Katherine May believes we should all embrace our personal winters. She isn’t talking about the coldest season of the year though. For her, wintering is "a fallow period in life when you're cut off from the world, feeling rejected, sidelined, blocked from progress, or cast into the role of an outsider." In her book, Wintering, May recounts her own year-long journey through winter, sparked by a sudden illness in her family that plunged her into a time of uncertainty and seclusion. When ...
Jun 09, 2022•40 min
