Women on Trial - The Alice Morton Divorce Case of 1920
Irish History Podcast
Fin Dwyer
4.7 • 1.8K Ratings
🗓️ 15 March 2023
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Until 1981 a woman was considered the property of her husband under Irish law. A husband could even sue another man for damaging his property if he had an affair with his wife. Referred to as 'criminal conversation’ these trials were demeaning and humiliating for the women involved. 'Women on trial looks' looks at the story of Alice Morton.
When her marriage fell apart in 1919, she found herself at the centre of a sensational divorce and criminal conversation trial. When this developed into an early 20th century sex scandal, Alice went on the run rather than be subjected to such humiliation.
The episode follows Alice's story as she evaded private detectives, and a court system stacked against her.
Sound: Kate Dunlea
Additional Narrations: Aidan Crowe and Therese Murray
Read more about criminal conversation trials:
Adultery in the Courts: Criminal Conversation in Ireland by Niamh Howlin https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2787632
Ireland’s criminal conversations by Diane Urquhart https://journals.openedition.org/etudesirlandaises/3162
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | In 1919, the life of the Irish woman, Alice Morton, was upended. When her marriage broke |
| 0:14.6 | down, her husband began a relentless campaign to destroy her reputation. In an age where |
| 0:20.8 | Victorian morality still lingered, Alice found herself at the center of what amounted |
| 0:26.5 | to a sex scandal. In an act of vengeance against Alice, her husband initiated two legal |
| 0:33.2 | proceedings. The first was a divorce case claiming Alice had committed adultery, however the |
| 0:39.8 | second was far more devastating. This would see her husband sue Alice's lover using |
| 0:46.7 | an archaic law known as criminal conversation that held that the act of adultery had damaged |
| 0:53.9 | his property, in this case his wife Alice. This would see the most private details of |
| 1:01.1 | Alice Morton's sex life subjected to public scrutiny while a court placed a monetary |
| 1:06.8 | value on her as a woman. However, rather than submit herself to this humiliation, Alice |
| 1:13.5 | Morton would eventually go on the run in what is a fascinating story. |
| 1:23.5 | Hello and welcome to the Irish History Podcast, my name is Finn Dwyer. Sound on today's |
| 1:28.6 | episode is by Kate Donnelly. Additional generations are from Aiden Crow and Therese Murray. The show |
| 1:34.5 | was researched, produced and recorded by myself. If you enjoyed the show today and want to support |
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| 1:59.4 | moment I'm running an exclusive series with Dr. Brian Hanley on the Irish Civil War that's |
| 2:04.9 | only available to supporters of the show. There's also my own audio book on the black |
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... |
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