It has been an exciting week for our friends and partners EPIC the Irish Emigration Museum as in cooperation with RTÉ, Herstory Ireland, Underground Films and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, ‘Herstory: Ireland's EPIC Women’ TV series was launched. 

The aim of the series is to bring the stories of Ireland's greatest female trailblazers to Irish screens as part of the Herstory 20/20 Project, - an ambitious storytelling platform devoted to uncovering fascinating, but mostly forgotten, women's stories from history, mythology and contemporary culture.

Find more information on this here: https://dublin.epicchq.com/epic-museum-rte-herstory-irelands-epic-women?_ga=2.163387007.255464449.1580996496-284836377.1565968497

Programmes have been made about six remarkable women:

Lady Mary Heath

Record-breaking aviator and athlete, from Limerick

Kay McNulty

Ground-breaking computer programmer, from Donegal

Dr. James Barry

Performed the first caesarean section in British Empire, from Cork

Mother Jones

Labour activist and campaigner, from Cork

Oonah Keogh

World's first female stockbroker, from Dublin

Ninette de Valois

Choreographer and founder of Royal Ballet, from Wicklow

But the television series is just the tip of the iceberg! If you get the chance to visit EPIC the Irish Emigration Museum, you can earn even more about the amazing Irish women who have transformed the world. From Irish-Australian Sarah ‘Fanny’ Durack, winner of the first ever gold medal in women’s Olympic swimming to Cork-born astronomer Agnes Clerke, who has a lunar crater named in her honour, their achievements are unequalled. 

There is also Herstory Animations, Podcasts and Illuminations which can be found on the RTE website:  https://www.rte.ie/culture/herstory/

Founded in 2016, Herstory’s mission is to give the public authentic female role models and a game-changing egalitarian education programme - inspiring countries around the world to start their own Herstory movements. There is undoubtedly a lot of stories to be uncovered, perhaps you may find some while researching your own family history.

By Fiona O'Mahony