Who was Bridget O’Donnel? AKA The Most Famous Irish Woman in History
Irish History Podcast
Fin Dwyer
4.7 • 1.8K Ratings
🗓️ 14 September 2022
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
You may not recognise the name Bridget O’Donnel, but she is one of the most recognisable women in Irish history. In December 1849 her image (pictured in the episode artwork and here) appeared in The Illustrated London News. Over the following decades she became the face of the Great Famine. Today she is one of the most recognisable women in Irish history, but who was Bridget O’Donnel?
Is it possible she never existed but was the creation of an artist called James Mahony?
Hear the full story of the woman behind this iconic image.
Additional narrations from Therese Murray
H/T to Mark Lagan for his help in this!
The poster of Bridget mentioned in the episode is available here.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey folks, just a quick heads up before you dive into the episode. |
| 0:03.6 | My new book, Alita Legacy, a history of Ireland in 18 murders is coming out on September |
| 0:08.4 | the 14th. |
| 0:09.5 | You can still pre-order your copy today, or if you're going to be in Dublin next week, |
| 0:13.8 | it will be great to see you at the launch. |
| 0:16.2 | It's on at 6pm on Thursday, September the 14th in Hodges figures. |
| 0:20.8 | That's 6pm on September the 14th in Hodges figures on Dawson Street in the city center. |
| 0:26.2 | Swing in on your way home from work, it'll be a great event. |
| 0:28.8 | Sure I'll see you there. |
| 0:33.6 | The name Bridget O'Donnell may not mean very much to you, yet she is among the most recognisable |
| 0:40.0 | and famous women in Irish history. |
| 0:42.5 | She's the person depicted in the artwork for this episode and at the links in the show notes below, |
| 0:47.2 | but she's often considered to be the face of the great famine. |
| 0:51.0 | Her image encapsulates what many of us immediately think of when someone mentions the great hunger. |
| 0:58.0 | However, her fame is somewhat unusual. |
| 1:01.4 | She didn't achieve anything particularly notable in her life. |
| 1:04.6 | She wasn't active in politics, or she wasn't even related to powerful people of the day. |
| 1:09.6 | Indeed, the date of her birth and the date of her death are also unknown. |
| 1:14.8 | Bridget's fame comes more from what she endured and experienced |
| 1:18.8 | and a chance meeting with a journalist in 1849. |
| 1:22.8 | You see, late in that famine year, a cork-based artist, James Manni, |
| 1:27.3 | travelled to Kilrush and County Claire to report on the famine conditions in the area |
... |
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