Show Notes
Listen to the stories of girls and women who left Ireland pregnant or became pregnant in North America outside marriage. Some who migrated from Ireland believed their partners would follow them, only to find themselves alone and thousands of miles from home. Hear how for some women having a baby out of wedlock had tragic consequences.
More from Bad Bridget
In the last episode of the season we talk about the tricky subject of discrimination, both against and by the Irish. Sophie Cooper details how the Irish got a reputation for drunkenness and violence across the western world, while Deirdre Cooper Owens shares her expertise on Irish women and medical treatment, discrimination and race. And while the Irish were sometimes discriminated against, they could also be racist as well, as shown in the tragic story of two immigrant sisters.
Join us live from Electric Picnic, Ireland’s largest music and arts festival, for this live episode on all things revenge. Hear about the women who held a grudge, who fell out with each other (sometimes with tragic consequences), or who sought to retaliate when relationships went wrong. These are women you do not want to cross!
How many of us would have been in trouble if stubbornness was a crime when we were teenagers? Hear about how being stubborn and disobeying your parents in the past could lead to a prison sentence. Elizabeth Alice Clement talks to us about dating in the US city, and the phenomenon of ‘treating’. This episode also includes tales of girls who had criminal records even before they were teenagers.
We all love a happy ending … but this rarely happened for many of our Bad Bridgets. Listen in for some tales of love gone wrong. We hear how emigration from Ireland allowed men and women to escape relationships, how some women ended up in prison for adultery or for having more than one wedding, and the lengths some women went to to track down their misbehaving husbands! In this episode, Diane Urquhart tells us how hard it was to legally end a marriage and what ‘divorce Irish style’ looked like.
Have you ever shoplifted or had your pocket picked? Well let us tell you about some of the Bad Bridgets who were extraordinary thieves. These are some of our favourite Bad Bridgets, from Elizabeth Dillon who targeted mourners at funerals to Little Annie Reilly who traded on her innocent appearance, and of course the infamous Mother Hubbard with her self-styled clothing. These are women who are inventive and creative in all the worst ways! In this episode, Eliza McKee tells us all about pawning and by the end you will be holding tight to your purse!