25/08/2026
𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝑵𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝑹𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅, 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝑯𝒂𝒔 𝑭𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝑰𝒕𝒔 𝑾𝒂𝒚 𝑯𝒐𝒎𝒆
This Culture Night on Friday, September 18th, 2026, Tudor Artisan Hub- in collaboration with Waterford’s Transported Convict Women: A Herstory, award-winning writer and poet Shirley O’Shea and Margaret O’Brien of Writing Changes Lives, brings a very special story home to Carrick-on-Suir.
For the first time, 34 transported convict women with links to Carrick-on-Suir and the wider Suir Valley will be remembered in the Long Gallery at Ormond Castle.
At the heart of the project are 34 tribute handcrafted bonnets, part of Roses from the Heart - the global public art memorial conceptualised by Dr Christina Henri to honour the 25,566 women transported from Britain and Ireland to Australia between 1788 and 1853.
Each bonnet is hand-stitched with the convict woman’s name, age, the name of the ship she travelled on, and the year of her transportation to Australia, where known, helping ensure these women and their stories are not forgotten.
Between 1788 and 1853, approximately 350 women who were either from or convicted in the Waterford area were transported, with poverty a significant factor in the lives of many of those forced to make the journey. Of these, 34 women have been identified as having links to Carrick-on-Suir and surrounding areas.
Waterford’s Transported Convict Women: A Herstory are our very special guests and central partners in this project. They are bringing the exhibition to Carrick-on-Suir, sharing the extensive research and stories behind the women and setting up the display in the Long Gallery.
Through a partnership with SETU Library, the Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI), and the Roses from the Heart project, the bonnets, together with the research and stories behind them, have been digitally preserved and made accessible to a global audience for the first time.
By day, visitors will be able to explore the exhibition through QR codes, taking them directly to the digital records, where they can discover more about the individual women and the stories behind the bonnets.
And there is another very special connection reaching across the Irish Sea.
Downstairs at Ormond Castle, visitors will be able to watch a short video featuring descendants of the transported women in Australia, hearing directly from families whose connections to these women have continued across generations.
On Culture Night itself, we are creating a very special artistic response around the exhibition, bringing together local spoken-word artists, writers and musicians, with music from Carrick-on-Suir composer Marian Ingoldsby and acclaimed flautist Gerard Dower.
Local writers associated with Writing Changes Lives – Writing Community, led by Margaret O’Brien, will give voice to extracts from the women's actual historical records and letters. These readings will be anchored by a specially commissioned piece, ‘Seven Years Transportation’ (Taken Women), by award-winning writer and poet Shirley O’Shea.
Ann Fitzgerald, historian and secretary with Waterford’s Transported Convict Women, A Herstory and founding member of Roses from the Heart, Waterford Group will give an overview of the group’s ongoing work, highlighting its research, community engagement and plans for the future.
And the local community has quite literally helped to build the exhibition. Twenty-four stands for the bonnets have been specially crafted and painted by Carrick-on-Suir’s Men’s Shed, creating a very tangible connection between the community today and the women whose stories are being remembered.
This is more than an exhibition...It is a story that began locally, travelled across the world and is now finding its way home - through research, remembrance, art and voice.
For many of these women, their journey began here in the Suir Valley and ended on distant shores. Now, for the first time, their stories are being brought back into the heart of their wider home community.
Though they never returned, their story has found its way home.
📍 The Long Gallery, Ormond Castle, Carrick-on-Suir
📅 Friday, 18 September 2026
🕖 7.00–8.30pm
🎟️ Free event - limited seating
📌 Booking opens Friday 4 September at 10am
https://www.ticketsource.com/tudor-artisan-hub
Culture Night events are supported by The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon in partnership with Tipperary Arts Office
A special thank you to Waterford’s Transported Convict Women, A Herstory and the Roses from the Heart Waterford Group for their generosity in sharing their research, stories and knowledge, and for bringing this important exhibition to Carrick-on-Suir.
Thank you also to the team at Ormond Castle and the OPW – Office of Public Works for facilitating and supporting this very special event.
Thank you to Carrick-on-Suir Men’s Shed for their generosity in crafting and painting the bonnet exhibition stands, and to all the creatives involved in bringing this very special performance to life.
