It Happened On This Day
This project explores the remarkable events of May 22nd, 1971 when forty-seven women boarded a train in Dublin bound for Belfast with the intention of illegally importing contraception into the Republic of Ireland. The reader is invited to share in four different journeys: The emotional journey of the women on board the train; the narrative journey describing the events of the day; the physical journey from Dublin’s Connolly Station to Belfast’s Central Station and the historical journey of Ireland’s controversial relationship with contraception and family planning laws. An ‘x’ motif features throughout the project and is suggestive of both railway imagery and the restriction on contraception. When the women reach Belfast and successfully acquire the contraband, this motif transforms from a negative ‘x’ to a positive ‘+’.
