Maternity Care in 1950s Dublin

The history of maternity care in 1950s Ireland has been dominated by the so-called ‘Mother and Child Controversy’, when the Catholic Church and the State clashed over the development of maternity services. While this was undoubtedly a seismic moment in the history of Irish healthcare provision, it has somewhat obscured what was actually happening on the ground in terms of maternal and child welfare and medical services. Join Professor Lindsey Earner-Byrne and Professor Fergal Malone as they explore the issues that defined the everyday experience of maternity care in 1950s Dublin and the radical transformation in approaches to maternal and neonatal healthcare that has taken place in Ireland in the years since.

Appointed Bank of Ireland Chair of Contemporary Irish History at Trinity College Dublin in August 2023, Professor Earner-Byrne has widely published on Irish history, focusing on poverty, welfare, gender, sexuality, and marginalised groups. She co-authored The Irish Abortion Journey, 1920–2018 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019) with Prof. Diane Urquhart of Queen’s University Belfast.

Professor Fergal Malone has held the position of Professor and Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the RCSI School of Medicine since 2005. He is a consultant obstetrician, as well as a sub-specialist consultant in maternal-fetal medicine, based at the Rotunda Hospital Dublin. He served as Master (Chief Executive Officer) of the Rotunda Hospital Dublin from 2016 to 2022.

This event is part of this year's One Dublin One Book initiative, which aims to encourage everyone in Dublin to read a designated book connected with the capital city during the month of April every year. This year's selection is Christine Falls by John Banville. This annual project is a Dublin City Council initiative, led by Dublin City Libraries and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature and supported by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport.

See the full 2026 programme here.

Copies of Christine Falls (Faber) are available to borrow from all Irish public libraries in physical format and in digital format as eBooks and eAudiobook

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