{"product_id":"working-class-heroines","title":"Working Class Heroines","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eWorking Class Heroines\u003c\/em\u003e acclaimed historian Kevin C. Kearns brings us the voices of the forgotten women of Dublin’s tenements. If it weren’t for his work the lives of these everyday heroines would be lost forever. Based on 30 years of research spent interviewing and recording the life stories of the working-class women of Dublin, it covers the squalid tenement days of the early 1900s, through the mid-century decades of ‘slumland’ block flats, and into the 1970s when deadly drugs infiltrated poor neighbourhoods, terrifying mothers and stealing away their children. What emerges is an intimate and poignant celebration of the mammies and grannies who held the fabric of family life in an environment of hardship and, often, cruelty.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThrough vivid tales of how they coped with grinding poverty, huge families, pitiless landlords, the oppressive Church, dictatorial priests, feckless and often abusive husbands, these remarkable women shine with astonishing dignity, wit, pride and a resilient spirit, despite their struggles.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWorking Class Heroines\u003c\/em\u003e gives voice and pays tribute to the long silent, unsung heroines who were the indispensable caretakers of both family and community, and remains one of the most important Irish feminist documents of our times.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e“The ordinary woman has long been absent from our national narrative. I think we should be grateful that \u003cem\u003eWorking Class Heroines\u003c\/em\u003e exists, and we can benefit now from listening to these voices.’ Ellen Coyne, \u003cem\u003eThe Sunday Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display: inline !important; float: none; background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;\"\u003e“Those of us who know and love Dublin owe Kearns a huge debt\". Roddy Doyle\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePraise for Kevin Kearns’ other unique oral histories of Dublin\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Legendary “Lugs” Branigan: Ireland’s Most Famed Garda\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e‘A revealing portrait not just of a passionate and dedicated public figure, but also of a society undergoing great and constant change.’ \u003cem\u003eThe Irish Independent\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eIreland’s Arctic Siege: The Big Freeze of 1947\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis story might have come from some Polar Expedition. It is almost unbelievable that such conditions could exist in Ireland.’ \u003cem\u003eThe Irish Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Bombing of Dublin’s North Strand, 1941: The Untold Story\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e‘What shines through is the courage and goodness of ordinary people, untrained for such catastrophe, in their attempts to save and help their fellow Dubliners.’ \u003cem\u003eThe Irish Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eDublin Tenement Life: An Oral History \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e‘Among the finest books ever written about Dublin.’ \u003cem\u003eThe Sunday Tribune\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e‘This is truly an admirable book, capturing echoes of a vanished world. It is only by reading this book that I was enabled to re-imagine the society which the respondents recalled to Kevin Kearns during what must have been many hundreds of hours of patient interviewing.’ \u003cem\u003eThe Irish Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e‘This book will long stand as the definitive social history of Ireland’s gulags, where the poor were herded together in conditions worse than animals and will hopefully serve as further inspiration to those who still campaign for decent housing for all our citizens.’ Joe Duffy\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e‘Those of us who know and love Dublin owe Kearns a huge debt.’  Roddy Doyle\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eDublin Voices: An Oral Folk History\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e‘This book is a goldmine of tiny details. The narrative voices that speak from every page of this book do so in an unfiltered language entirely their own.’ \u003cem\u003eThe Sunday Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOral recollections of life in working class Dublin celebrates the forgotten lives of ordinary women .\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gill","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":55139558523267,"sku":"9780717183517","price":18.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0910\/3664\/7811\/files\/041ef7ee1115b6cb5dbfc4604731ac0b.jpg?v=1741440002","url":"https:\/\/shop.gill.ie\/products\/working-class-heroines","provider":"Gill","version":"1.0","type":"link"}