Thirty Years of Change Through Women’s Eyes: Ireland, 1993-2023

In this unique book, Irish women who stayed living on the island, who did not emigrate, describe their lives and perspectives on a dramatically changed social context from the 1990s to 2023. We hear the women’s voices through O’Carroll’s carefully crafted profiles based on interviews she conducted with each woman thirty years apart. Located in different places on the island, the women from various social backgrounds describe their lives and perspectives on the changes they have witnessed in their society - the rise and fall of the economy, major inward migration, unparalleled advances in legislation enabling divorce, abortion and marriage equality. O’Carroll provides an analysis of the wider social, economic and political shifts that contributed to dramatic social change including women’s increased participation in the labour force, in education, in community-based organisations and in campaigns for change. Written for a general audience, the book seeks to help readers understand how women were agents of change whose lives were also shaped by social change.