Small Things Like These and the Magdalen Laundries

In this lecture, Mary Finn, Cardiss Collins Professor of Instruction Emerita at Northwestern University, will discuss Claire Keegan’s novel , focusing on the history of the Magdalen Laundries in Ireland, and the movement to expose them and provide reparations for the women who were placed there. As Irish Studies scholar James Smith argues, the Magdalen Laundries were the dark underbelly of the emerging Irish Free State that crafted its identity as distinct from England in part by privileging the purity of its women. This created a need to hide the “wayward” women, met in large part by four orders of Catholic nuns. Very little of the novel takes place within the convent, and even when we move inside its walls, its workings are mysterious. But its influence is strong and reaches into all corners of the small, financially struggling town. With great intention Keegan picks a particular moment in Irish history that is perhaps best represented by the novel’s inconclusive conclusion.

The lecture will take place from 6:00-7:30 PM. Attendees are encouraged to come early for a pre-event Happy Hour at the MiniBar from 5:30-6:00 PM.

This is a ticketed lecture. Your ticket includes a copy of Small Things Like These OR a certificate of equal value ($22) to be redeemed on or before the event date. Proceeds from all ticket sales will benefit the McGaw YMCA.

Mary Finn retired from Northwestern University in July, 2023. She was the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Academic Affairs and taught in the English Department. Upon retiring she began this research project on the Magdalen Laundries, inspired by curiosity about a great aunt who immigrated from Ireland only to enter a cloistered convent. The Order she joined was the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, one of the four orders that ran the Magdalen Laundries in Ireland. In the late 19th century the order came to the United States and continued its stated mission to “save souls,” in particular the souls of wayward girls.

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