We are all volunteers and bring different experience and skills to the project. On this page, you can find out more about us.

Dr ruth beecher, founder & trustee

is from the People’s Republic of Cork but is London-based. Ruth is a social and cultural historian with interests in race, gender and sexuality, children and families, medicine and psychiatry, and popular culture in the U.S. and U.K. in the twentieth century. Loves oral histories, loves archives, loves teaching. Has also been a leader within local government in children’s services, delivering on policy, commissioning, service design, and evaluation.

Dorothy duffy, co-chair of the trustees

was born in County Mayo, the youngest of ten children and has lived two thirds of her life in London
Dorothy’s professional career started in Nursing, eventually specialising in working with children and families. It has since spanned Programme and Project Management, delivering major innovative and strategic government initiatives in children and family and disabled children’s services at a local and national level. She is also an Executive Coach specialising in leadership and career development. She is very proud to be part this very special project, which harnesses the age old Irish tradition of storytelling and oral history with women at its heart.

**Evelyn** Kerrigan Lebloch, co-chair of the trustees

was born in County Mayo and moved to London in the mid-eighties. She is a registered social worker specialising in international child protection and safeguarding. Evelyn is committed to children's rights and social justice. She believes there is much to learn from women's stories.

Daisy roberts, trustee

is a Global History Master’s graduate based in London. Her research interests include identity, nation building, and gender. She believes social and feminist histories are crucial to ensuring the historical record reflects the world in which we live.

**Ann Joye, trustee & treasurer**

is from Cork. She moved to Dublin after university where she worked for five years before relocating to Edinburgh in the late 1990s. Ann has spent her career working within the financial services arena. During a career break, Ann undertook a Masters in Social Anthropology and has always been interested in the stories we tell ourselves and how we utilise these stories to create a sense of self.

**professor Ailsa** Russell, trustee

was born in Cork and moved to London at the end of the 1980s. She works in the health service and higher education as a clinical psychologist. People’s stories and how they make sense of them have always been a source of inspiration. She is also really interested in how people relate to Ireland and its culture as emigrants, migrants, or part of its diaspora.

Lizzie Barrie

is from the Philadelphia area of the United States and moved to County Galway in 2023. She has a Masters Degree in Library and Information Science and an Archival Studies Certificate from Drexel University. She worked as a public librarian for nearly twenty years and believes in the power of preserving information and facilitating access to it as a crucial component of social justice.

Annie Mcaleer

is originally from Dundalk, but is now based in Belfast. She is completing a Master’s degree in Public History at Queen’s University Belfast. Her research is focused on working class women’s history, and she is passionate about women collectively claiming space on the historical record.

Stephanie Blythman

was born in Ireland and grew up in County Wicklow. She works in costume for film and TV in London. She also does her own research into the history of stage costume following the completion of her MA in History of Design at the V&A/Royal College of Art. Her research focuses on early seventeenth century French costuming practices and explores what the costumes, costumed bodies, and their iconographic representation say about early modern French understandings of nation, race, gender, and class.

Georgia Ryan

is an MA graduate in History from NUI Galway. Currently based in Belfast, her areas of interest and research include Irish women’s history of the early twentieth century, medical history, particularly maternal and infant health, and women’s experience of the Irish Revolutionary Period on the Island of Ireland.

Saidhbh Brannigan

is from Tipperary, Ireland, Saidhbh completed her BA in Politics and International Relations at UCD and is continuing her studies in a MA in International Public Policy at Queens University Belfast. She believes that capturing everyday women's experiences, which have been historically excluded, is crucial for understanding and deconstructing current and past societal biases. Saidhbh has a passion for journalistic and creative writing, as well as photography.

PAT RODWELL

lives in Birmingham with her partner whose family is from county Cork. She worked for the Careers Service for many years and is particularly interested in the education and work of women. Since retiring, she has taken part in several oral history projects. Pat believes it is important to record the histories of ordinary Irish women.

Éadaoin fagan

is originally from Co. Westmeath but has lived in Dublin since starting her undergraduate degree in Children’s and General Nursing at Trinity College Dublin. Currently studying Applied Social Studies at Maynooth University, with a particular interest in women’s and children’s rights. I believe it is important to record women’s stories as there is so much to be learnt from them.

emma elliott-osmond

was born and raised on Whadjuk Noongar Country to an Irish father from Belfast. Her maternal ancestors emigrated to Australia during An Gorta Mór. Emma has a degree in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Western Australia, along with a Master of Communications & Media from Örebro University in Sweden. She has undertaken further studies in counselling, with a particular interest in narrative therapy and the wellbeing benefits of being connected to intergenerational stories.

sarah mason

is a PhD student and co-convenor of the Modern Irish History Group at the University of Edinburgh. She is currently conducting a women’s oral history project in West Belfast in collaboration with various community-based organisations in the Greater Belfast Area. She completed her undergraduate studies at Oxford and completed her MPhil at the University of Glasgow. Sarah’s research draws on her working-class family history in West Belfast.

Katie Mottram

is of Irish descent, with her family originating from Dun Laoghaire and Blackrock. Katie's grandparents moved to England in the 1960s and settled in Coventry, which had a large Irish community at the time. Katie is proud of her Irish heritage and has a keen interest in understanding and preserving Irish stories. Professionally, Katie works as a children's Speech and Language Therapist.