This exhibition highlighted the lives and legacies of twenty-one of these women, just a fraction of the many who made lasting contributions in their fields. From the beginning, the movement for equality was a global one. It was fought both by suffrage campaigners, and by individual pioneering women who defied convention.
Many of these women benefited from the support of a partner, family member or colleague as they strategically navigated a male-dominated society on their own terms.
The exhibition was a joint collaboration of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum and Herstory. Research by Dr Angela Byrne, former DFAT Historian-in-Residence at EPIC.
Blazing a Trail: Lives and Legacies of Irish Diaspora Women celebrates the lives and legacies of 21 pioneering Irish diaspora women of the 19th and 20th centuries who blazed a trail in a wide range of fields. These women made their mark across the globe, innovating in every field and paving the way for others to follow, navigating a male-dominated society on their own terms. Read more inspiring women’s stories, shared as part of International Women’s Day 2021.
