Explore our Collections
Enjoy reading the extraORDINARYwomen blogs to hear the personal stories behind some of the archives in our collections.
The extraORDINARYwomen project at the Linen Hall Library has one fundamental goal: to celebrate the significance of ordinary women’s lives in Northern Ireland. As part of Ciara McAllister's PhD research, Ciara explored the Theatre and Performing Arts collections in the Linen Hall Library, looking specifically at materials relating to community arts.
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Anna Lo discusses her election journey, making change for a better future and her debut in politics. A tough campaigning journey proved to be fruitful as she made history by becoming ‘the first non-white elected politician in Northern Ireland and more astonishingly, the first China-born parliamentarian in Europe.’
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Carol Moore, a co-founder of Charabanc Theatre Company, talks about the exciting first years of the company, and what she describes as ‘a journey of female empowerment’.
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Noted members of the Word of Mouth Poetry Collective, Gráinne Tobin and Ruth Carr, share experiences of what it was like to be part of the collective. This valued collective brought together a group of peers who shared a love for writing to discuss creating new written work. The Linen Hall Library housed many of these meetings in its Governors Room or Members Room (as it was known then).
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A little less twitter, a lot more thought and direct conversation. What’s next for Arlene Foster?
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Award-winning playwright, essayist, and short story specialist, Rosemary Jenkinson allows us to peep behind the doors of a writer’s life through humour’s glasses.
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Lynda Walker, women’s rights and civil rights activist, talks about the power of song to inspire, and the impact that the International Women’s Day Concert Belfast, 1981, had on the development of NI women’s centres and campaigns.
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Danielle Roberts of Here NI explores the legacy of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition, recalling how seeing a poster in the Linen Hall Library’s Vertical Gallery reminded Danielle of the commitment these women had to making Northern Ireland a more equal place.
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