E M POWERINGCOMMUNITIES TO ACHIEVEPOSITIVESOCIAL
Community Education Programme
THE FORGOTTEN WO MEN FROM GOREY TO ANTARCTICA
Through this community education project, we have fostered empowerment, inclusivity and knowledge sharing.
With collaborative efforts, this community group have informed themselves and the wider community with information on the forgotten women.
The quilt will be shared by Dr Niamh Shaw & WWETB and the women’s stories will continue to be told.
‘It
Foreword
I am delighted to write the forward for The Forgotten Women from Gorey to Antarctica booklet on behalf of Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board. This booklet epitomises the importance that community education plays in the lives of people. This booklet is so important as it showcases the valued work of the learners in the Gorey Women’s Quilting, Age Friendly Alliance, Community Education group.
The booklet illustrates the quilt which the learners in the group created to represent the Irish and Anglo-Irish women who contributed so meaningfully to the field of science. The booklet gives an overview of the design of the quilt, the rationale behind why the learners chose the forgotten women to represent, it examines why those women in history resonated with the learners and it describes the learners’ journey of the crafting the quilt.
The booklet is an excellent example of how community education can support learners with a common interest to work together to bring their concepts to reality in very creative ways. The booklet is an inspiring output from a meaningful and important project which reflects the passion, creativity and skills of the learners. I would like to take this opportunity to commend and congratulate the learners for their vision, passion and commitment to the project and thank you all of stakeholders who supported the project and the learners.
Dr Lindsay Malone Director of Further Education and Training Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board
Introduction
The learners from the Gorey Women’s Quilting, Age Friendly Alliance, Community Education group, supported by Waterford Wexford Education and Training Board created a quilt to represent the Irish and Anglo-Irish women who contributed to and impacted on science, and who have largely not been recognised. We did not learn about these women in our schoolbooks.
From the initial conversations and ideas, it was incredible to watch how this project progressed, from simply listening to a radio conversation, a project called the ‘forgotten women’ was born, a piece of art was designed and created, deadlines where met, the quilt travelled to Antarctica and made it to the ice on the Antarctic peninsula acknowledging the women who have blazed a trail before us.
This group meet weekly in the Gorey Further Education and Training Centre learning the art of quilting under the guidance of WWETB Group Tutor Mary Walsh and the ethos of Community Education. The group worked in collaboration with the incredible Dr Niamh Shaw a scientist, engineer and communicator. Niamh travelled to Antarctica in November 2023 as part of Homeward
Bound global leadership program for women and brought the quilt with her on her travels to acknowledge both the forgotten women and the community group.
It was my privilege to be part of this project. The book captures the journey of the creation of the quilt, from Gorey to Antarctica…
Yvonne O’Connor Community Education Facilitator, North Wexford. Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board.
Presenting the stories behind the quilt to Dr Niamh Shaw, Gorey Further Education & Training Centre, October 2023.
What is Community Education?
The learning through Community Education allowed this project to progress as it did, with the learners choosing the women, the design, the quilt. ‘Community Education is facilitative, group focused and open to new things for the learners.’ (2021 Community Education Network charter).
The safe space our learning environment provided ensured the women reached their potential on this project.
The quilt went from an idea to representing both the forgotten women of science and the current learners in the Gorey Age Alliance Quilting group ending in Antarctica on a leadership for women expedition.
The importance of the tea break and the informal conversations that happen at this time cannot be undervalued, it was in the canteen on a Thursday evening in the Gorey Further Education and Training Centre that the idea for the quilt was created.
The collaboration of this project with Dr Niamh Shaw and this informal Community Education group, supported by the WWETB Community Education team, is a great representation of the work in Community Education across WWETB.
Gorey Further Education and Training Centre, unveiling of the design of the quilt, October 2023
Zoom meeting with Dr Niamh Shaw, September 2023
Design of the Quilt
After a zoom call with Dr Niamh Shaw one Thursday evening in Gorey Further Education and Training Centre, it led to further conversations as to how women are often forgotten and not recognised in society for their achievements and contributions to science. The lack of appreciation shocked and appalled the group.
Given the opportunity, the group wanted to represent these forgotten Irish and Anglo-Irish women of science, which led to a discussion around the canteen table over the tea break on how they could showcase these women, and give them the acknowledgement they deserve. The learners provisionally designed the quilt at this tea break, they then undertook their own research, each choosing a women that resonated with them. This was outside the comfort zone of the learners, however with the guidance and support of their Group Tutor Mary Walsh and each other they rose to the challenge.
They wrote about their chosen woman and then designed a block for the quilt to represent their findings.
First design of the quilt
Jane Murphy Byrne Block to represent all the women
My name is Jane Murphy Byrne and it has been a most wonderful experience working on this project, the most inspiring thing for me is the collaborative effort on behalf of the whole class. We are all women who enjoy quilting and are inspired by a great sense of achievement and joy at the end result.
I am inspired by continuous education and like a challenge however I freeze if I feel I am put to the test which I feel comes back to my early days of learning which were not happy memories. It has been wonderful to learn of the great women who have achieved great things and we are at the heart of our own families that inspiration through this project gives great encouragement to keep learning.
We heard of Niamh’s life journey and how she was accepted to go to the Antarctica with the Homeware bound STEM project and her desire to go to the Moon.
Dr Niamh is passionate about the climate and how women in the community can instigate
change and how she herself can relate Ireland to the Antarctica’s, she believed everything is in a cyclical balance and at the moment as a species ‘ WE ARE OUT OF BALANCE’ over eating and like a parasite consuming all the resources that nature provides.
In memory of Irish and Anglo / Irish women who pioneered great achievements during their lives when women were not considered intelligent, the following forgotten Irish women were chosen by our group to be represented in our quilt project. These women contributed to scientific and other advancements in fields of astronomy, plant, medicine and flight at a time when women were not recognised in any field of studies.
As part of my quilt block which would be 12.5 x 1.5 inches, the Log Cabin Pattern was chosen with adaptation and called pineapple design with strips rather than typical log cabin.
The plain colours are embroidered with the names of 13 women, listed in order of their birth year, due to space imitation it was not possible to include second names or titles of which there are 2 Dames, (Dame Kathleen Lonsdale and Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell). I chose the colours of batik to correspond with the plain colours and then ordered them with light colours flowing to dark, however the idea is that the colours would be viewed with the idea of going from DARK to LIGHT. The idea being that women had to work so hard to be seen and heard and travel the lonely journey from dark to the light where they were finally recognised and valued for their intelligence, contribution to discovery and dedication to their field of study.
Sally Earle
Before we started the project, I did a lot of research. I considered doing an Irish chain quilt, linking women from the past to modern day Irish women scientists. It was a simple drawing of a group of women looking down at a heart shape that two of them were holding. I like the idea of groups of women with a common interest/goal working together to achieve something and the picture represented this.
It also brought to mind our own little group
here in Gorey. I thought that we could do a fabric version of this picture to represent the forgotten women and instead of the heart have something to show that they were Irish. I wanted to include a question mark somewhere in my block because while researching the most important scientific symbol, I found an article from a man called James Schmidt who worked for Eurofins Regulatory Scientific Services. He gave various symbols as being important to the science community, but he thought the most important one of all was a question mark. He wrote ‘Its a launch point from the simplest science experiment to the most advanced research’.
I decided to create one central lady representing Dr Niamh and have her looking up instead of down to show her desire to travel to space. I finally got my question mark in by using it as a shape for her hairstyle because her curiosity from an early age has driven her desire to achieve great things. She will have elongated arms encircling the other ladies to show that she will bring their spirit with her on her journey through life wherever that may take her.
“So honoured to be part of such an amazing group project.”
Jane Murphy Byrne
The Forgotten Women
Created by Jane Murphy Byrne & Sally Earle
Sally Earle Remembering
All Female Astronomers
My name is Sally Earle. I am one of the newest members of our patchwork group. When we had the initial Zoom meeting with Mary and Yvonne and they explained what the project was going to be, I was sitting there thinking how in the name of God were we going to do this? Where would we even start? I had never heard of the women mentioned before.
When the meeting ended, I started to do Google searches and I was astonished at the achievement of the women and so disappointed that the stories of their lives had been practically erased from the history of our country.
I was very grateful that Dr Niamh Shaw had begun her mission to educate people about the lives of these forgotten women through her talks and broadcasts.
I became so excited that our little quilting group would get a chance to commemorate
them as well. The next day our WhatsApp group was buzzing with photos, links, sketches, and ideas galore! Everyone was so enthusiastic about the project and determined to do it justice.
The next few days, my head was busy considering all the possibilities! I thought about recreating the view of the Earth from the Moon as a block, as this iconic photo was inspiring to Niamh.
There are so many amazing female scientists but unfortunately our small group could not complete a block in remembrance of each one. We decided to create a block inspired by the photo of the Earth taken from the surface of the moon that originally inspired Niamh when she was a young girl. This is in memory of the work and achievements of astronomers.
‘A really worthwhile project that brought us all together.’
Sally Earle
Sally Earle - Remembering All Female Astronomers
The work of Dame Jocelyn Bell Burrell, an advocate for women, particularly inspiring as she continues to work to encourage young girls to consider a career in science. She is an astrophysicist from Northern Ireland who discovered the first radio pulsars. This discovery won a Nobel Prize, but the award went to Jocelyn’s male supervisor.
Agnes Clerke who at an early age developed an interest in astronomy and had begun to write a history of astronomy when she was only fifteen years old. She published her best known work ‘A Popular History of Astronomy during the Nineteenth Century’ in 1885 and has a crater on the moon named after her.
Rose O’Halloran was born in Tipperary in 1843 and moved to San Francisco after the death of her father. She studied the stars and the sun through a four inch telescope and taught herself the mathematical knowledge needed to track sunspots and variable stars. She is credited with being the first to see a giant sunspot emerge on the sun’s limb. She became a member of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and was appointed its Vice President in 1899.
Margaret Lindsay Huggins was born in Dublin in 1848. With her husband William Huggins she was a pioneer in the field of spectroscopy and cowrote the ‘Atlas of Representative Stellar Spectra’ in 1899. They were the first to observe and identify the series of hydrogen lines in the spectrum of the star Vega. Margaret made great improvements to their observatory equipment, and both quickly rose to the forefront of spectroscopic Astrophotography. They are commemorated by a pair of medallions in St Paul’s Cathedral, London.
Sally Earle
Remembering All Female Astronomers
The image of Earth from the surface of the moon was perfect to represent female astronomers.
We used bright blue for the earth and light grey marbled fabric for the surface of the moon. Initially, we planned to use a grey/black batik material for space but reconsidered this as Niamh had commented about the black velvety appearance of space and we thought that the greyish colour of the batik did not look good against the bright blue earth.
We decided to use the richest black fabric we could find and made the earth as large as possible to highlight its breathtaking beauty and the importance of working together to protect our planet. While looking at the photo it seemed to me that the Earth was being born or emerging from space and I tried to capture that effect when I was doing the block by using reverse applique and stuffing the Earth part to give it a slightly raised effect. This is called Trapunto in patchwork. The frayed edges of the black fabric around the earth give it the shadowy appearance as seen in the photo.
Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Agnes Clerke, Rose O’Halloran, Margaret Linsday Huggins.
Created by Sally Earle
Mary Donelan Remembering
Lilian Bland
My name is Mary Donelan and after retiring I joined the Gorey patchwork and quilting group. Not only have I learnt great skills from our wonderful Group Tutor Mary Walsh, but I have also gained a terrific new group of friends.
I feel the “May Fly” block was a good choice for myself, as four of my five children live abroad and rely totally on the aeroplane for their trips home, my son is living in B.C. in Canada where the region was cleared of forestry to form a valley (The Okanagan Valley) full of orchards and vineyards, and a son and daughter now living in Manchester where Lilian Bland’s engine was produced.
Dr Niamh Shaw is proof that anyone, male or female, can achieve great things by following their dreams. This photo of Lilian Bland is the inspiration for my block. I patched together tiny pieces of material to create the landscape and used light blue batik material for the sky. I appliqued the plane onto the sky, stitching black
lines for the delicate structure of the plane. I carefully cut out a patterned piece of material for her face.
Lilian Bland was born in the UK in 1878 from a long line of Irish descendants. She was a journalist and pioneer aviator having designed and built the first aeroplane in Ireland but was quite an unconventional lady for the time as she wore breeches, smoked cigarettes, and messed with motor car engines.
1909, she instructed a firm in Manchester to build her an engine, brought that back to Ireland and fitted it to the second bigger glider that they had built. While trying this out they noticed from tracks in the ground, that existed then disappeared, then reappeared a quarter of a mile later, that they had flown approx. 30’ high.
Lilian returned to Cornwall in England. She died in 1971 at the age of 92 and is buried in Lands’ End. Her famous quote, “I proved people wrong who said I couldn’t build an aeroplane”. She called her plane “May Fly” accordingly.
‘Through the work of such inspirational women, our journey with the quilt also gave us all a wonderful sense of achievement.‘
Mary Donelan
Lilian Bland Created by Mary Donelan
Anita Orr
Remembering
Cynthia Longfield (1896–1991)
My name is Anita, I am one of the newer members of our patchwork group.
I chose to make my square on Cynthia Longfield who is also known as “Madam Dragonfly.” This has a special meaning to me as it brings me back fond memories as a child, going for walks with my father and siblings through the local woods which ran by the river.
On these walks my father taught us the names of local flora and fauna. When we reached a clearing known as the moss house which was on the riverbank, he would show us dragonflies.
Cynthia Evelyn Longfield was born in 1896 to an AngloIrish family. She was an entomologist and explorer and the first woman member of the
Entomological society. She and her sisters had an enchanting lifestyle, sharing time between their Cork home at Castle Mary, in Cloyne and their London home. It was her time spent in the countryside of Cork that Cynthia developed her interest in plants, animals, and insects. Cynthia was a voluntary cataloguer of the natural history museum and was put in charge of work on dragonflies. She joined a six-month expedition to Matto Grosso, Brazil in 1927; she returned with 38 species of dragonfly. Three of these species were previously unidentified. The species Corphaeschna longfieldae is named in her honour, among others. In 1937 her book entitled “the dragonflies of the British Isles” was published and sold out quickly. This earned her the name “Madame Dragonfly.” She was appointed an honorary associate of the natural history museum in 1948. In 1979 she donated dragonfly and damselfly specimens to the Royal Irish Academy as well as her written records and more than 500 natural history books. In 1983 she was elected the first Honorary member of the British dragonfly society. ‘It was amazing to learn about these inspirational women.’ Anita Orr
Anita Orr
Remembering Cynthia Longfield (1896–1991)
After discussion and research I drew up my plan, a dragonfly flying at the river’s edge with reeds growing and the moon reflecting in the water. I traced out the shapes, applied fusable web, cut out the pieces and ironed them into place. I used glittery voile on the wings as I felt it added to the dragonfly’s mystical appearance and included the image of the moon reflecting on the water to represent science and space. I stitched around each piece using similar colour thread to the fabrics and stitched lines to mark the edges of the reeds .
Cynthia Longfield Created by Anita Orr
Mary Walsh (Group Tutor)
Remembering – Dame
Kathleen Yardley Lonsadale
It’s been an absolute pleasure to be part of this fascinating project. It has brought empowerment to each person involved; from the Zoom call, to sitting around two tables in the canteen where everyone partook in the design layout; to the individual block’s research, design and creation. So thank you Niamh for giving us such an opportunity. I can safely say we are all extremely appreciative. And thank you too to Yvonne for starting the ‘thread.’
As a tutor, I’d personally thought I’d be involved in just that role but group members insisted I should make a block that ended up being two. So thank you all. It has brought me back to my true love: design.
Kathleen Yardley was born in Newbridge, (28/1/1903 – 1/4/1971) the youngest of ten children. At the age of five, her family moved
to London after her parents divorced. In secondary school, she attended an allboys school to study maths and science, as girls’ schools didn’t accommodate such subjects. She received the highest score for physics at London City University.
She became a researcher in crystallography with the Royal Institute under William Henry Bragg, pioneering the use of x-ray to study crystals.
Her list of honours including many firsts as follows:
• 1 of 2 women elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, 1945
• Elected an Honorary Member of the Women’s Engineering Society, 1946
• 1st tenured female professor at University College, London, 1949
• Became Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, 1956
• Won the Davy Medal in recognition of her
distinguished studies in the structure and growth of crystals, 1957
• 1st woman president of International Union of Crystallography, 1966
• 1st female president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1967
• Lonsdale was named in her honour. It’s a rare, harder form of diamond found in meteorites.
• There are Lonsdale buildings named in her honour at each of the following universities;
• University College London – University of Limerick – Dublin City University
• Blue plaque unveiled in her childhood home in Seven Kings, London, 2021.
• Plaque erected at the Lonsdale family home in Newbridge, 2003.
Block
The diamond recognises Dame Kathleen Lonsdale as a crystallographer.
• The blue and white colours symbolise peace in recognition of her pacifism.
• These colours also represent Antarctica.
• The black and white used to highlight the diamond also conveys the Emperor Penguins plight to survive.
• All upcycled fabrics
- Diamond – Crumb patch work
- B & W - Seminole
- White - Patched
‘It was truly a privilege to create a group quilt and pay homage to these pioneering women.’
Mary Walsh
Dame Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale
Created by Mary Walsh (Group Tutor)
Michelle Doyle
Remembering Dr James Barry
My name is Michelle Doyle. I am a mother of seven and first returned to adult education with the support of Waterford Wexford Education and Training Board, WWETB, when this course began over six years ago. I enjoy both the creative and social side of our patchwork meetings and especially enjoy designing my own creations and helping others develop their skills.
I found the idea of creating a quilt for Dr Niamh Shaw challenging. Niamh’s life choices are intriguing and adventurous, and I spent time researching Niamh’s career, goals, and personal values and the barriers and obstacles faced by Irish women of the past.
I am a visual learner and prefer to write down ideas and sketch out options. I shared photos, ideas, and layouts of ideas for the quilt with our group before we met Niamh on Zoom. I was drawn to create a block remembering Dr James Barry as I am interested in LGBTQ+ and was intrigued to learn that Dr James Barry
was born Margaret Anne Bulkley. The lengths women had to go to pursue their interests and careers in the past is astonishing. Born Margaret Anne Bulkley in Cork in 1789; he was a military surgeon in the British Army and rose to the rank of Inspector General, the second highest medical office in the British Army, improved conditions for wounded soldiers and native inhabitants, he was an advocate for underrepresented minorities and performed the first recorded caesarean section in Africa by a European, when both the mother and child survived. From the age of twenty James Barry lived as a man in public and private life, this was in part to attend university and pursue a career as a surgeon as this was not an option for women of the time. After post-mortem examination Barry’s anatomy became known.
Michelle Doyle – Remembering Dr James Barry
I considered using a cartoon figure, female on one side and male surgeon on the other, including images representing his campaign against slavery, his short temper, the improvements he brought to hygiene in hospital, and colours such as pink for female, and blue for male but finally deciding on a simple male/female image appliqued to a scrappy patchwork background which incorporates many colours including, red, orange, yellow, blues, greens, black, brown, beige, pinks, purples, navy, white, grey, cream and army material representing his army career.
I edged each section with zigzag stitching representing heartbeats and scientific wavelengths. I chose a white material for the figures rather than colour; the white woven material symbolises bandaging and Barry’s chosen medical career as a surgeon.
Dr James Barry
Created by Michelle Doyle
Cathy Quirke –Remembering
Dorothy Stopford Price
My Name is Cathy Quirke and I’ve been involved with this quilting group for some years.
During a group discussion at tea break on Forgotten Women one evening I immediately decided to choose viruses. The topic appealed to me having spent almost half a century myself working in healthcare.
The project itself was thought provoking and it also required attention to detail.
A virus is a small infectious agent that can grow and reproduce inside the cell of another organism. A virus is made up of DNA or RNA genome inside a protein cell called a Capsid. Some viruses are very diverse. Recalling my career in healthcare I settled on one
‘It was educational, emotional and enjoyable.’
Cathy Quirke
outstanding lady, Dorothy Stopford Price, 1890 - 1954 and I was delighted to create my block in her memory. Dorothy was an Irish Physician who was key to eliminating childhood Tuberculosis in Ireland by introducing the BCG. Her career was spent mainly in St Ultan’s Hospital, Baggot St, Dublin. She died in 1954 age 46 from a stroke.
Cathy Quirke – Remembering Dorothy Stopford Price
I used scrap materials that reminded me of wavelengths and molecular cells, blues for viruses and pink to represent the work of the forgotten women. I hand stitched each hexagon into place.
Dorothy Stopford Price
Created by Cathy Quirke
Adrienne Casey Remembering –
Annie Russell Maunder Price
My name is Adrienne Casey and I joined the sewing group in 2022 and have enjoyed getting to know the other ladies and learning new quilting skills. The group is really rewarding and we all help each other, under the guidance of our excellent Group Tutor, Mary Walsh.
As a group, we were asked if we would like to do a project with Dr. Niamh Shaw who is an Irish engineer, scientist, writer and performer who is passionate about climate change and her dream is to travel to space one day! It was decided that we would make a quilt, the theme of which would be ‘The Forgotten Women ‘and Dr. Niamh Shaw.
My inspiration for my block is Annie Russell Maunder. Annie was born on 14th April 1868 in Strabane, Co. Tyrone. Education was important for the family and Annie’s elder half brother, Samuel Russell, was a professor of astronomy and mathematics. She was
educated at home before entering the Ladies Collegiate School, Belfast. Having won a prize in the Irish intermediate examination in 1886, she sat the open entrance scholarship examination for Girton College, Cambridge and was awarded a scholarship for three years. There she met the astronomer Alice Everett, from Belfast, and the two women became good friends. Although Annie passed the university examinations in 1889, women were not allowed to receive degrees at that time.
She became a prominent member of the newly established (1890) British Astronomical Association, which was open to members of the public, particularly women. In December 1895 she married Edward Maunder and resigned her post, in accordance with civil service regulations. She was determined to continue as an amateur astronomer and remained involved in research. She and her husband went on solar eclipse expeditions to Norway, India, Algiers and Mauritius where she photographed solar eclipse phenomena, after developing a camera to her own specifications.
The husband and wife team developed a chart in 1904 showing the movement of sunspot emergence from the poles towards the solar equator over the sun’s eleven year activity cycle. This became known as ‘The butterfly diagram’, because it resembled flying butterflies.
In 1916 Annie returned to the solar department of Greenwich as a volunteer and was made a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (the ban on female fellows had been lifted in 1915). After her husband’s death, Annie continued her work on astronomy and she died on 15th September, 1947 in London. A lunar impact crater has been named after her.
In 1916 Annie returned to the solar department of Greenwich as a volunteer and was made a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (the ban on female fellows had been lifted in 1915. Annie continued her work on astronomy and she died on 15th September, 1947 in London. A lunar impact crater has been named after her.
I decided to make my block with a butterfly in the centre and chose to use some fabrics that I had bought while visiting my daughter, who is working in Australia. The fabrics were all Aboriginal designs and this linked in really well with the Homeward Bound project. This project acknowledges the Aboriginal people on whose ancestral lands the Homeward Bound HQ members live and work in Australia.
Also, many of the fabrics have spots, referencing the ‘sunspots’ and I tried to choose colours that might evoke space and the
planets, by using the blue fabric that I chose as my border.
I mentioned that I had some fabric squares with a nice Celtic design, and placed one on each corner of the quilt it was agreed to include them to bring a further Irish element to the overall design.
‘An amazing project to be part of.’
Adrienne Casey
Annie Russell Maunder
Created by Adrienne Casey
Kathleen Turner
Remembering – Phyllis Clinch
My name is Kathleen Turner, I spend my time helping to run our family business. I attend our patchwork group to meet up with friends and I particularly enjoy the laughs and chats at tea break. I didn’t relish the extra work that this project suggested but I have enjoyed working on my patchwork square.
My interests are in agriculture, dairy in particular, so a link with agriculture drew me to create a block remembering Phyllis Clinch who was an Irish botanist born in Dublin (12/09/1901 – 19/10/1984).
In 1943, Clinch was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science (D.Sc.), based on the strength of her published work. On 30 March 1961 she became the first woman to receive the Boyle Medal from the RDS (Royal Dublin Society). In 2016 portraits of the first four women elected to the RIA, including Phyllis Clinch, were hung at the RIA’s Academy House. This is the first time that women’s portraits had been hung at the Academy House since the RIA was founded 230 years earlier.
We had an enjoyable tea break brainstorming ideas for my block. I decided to create a block with a cow jumping over the moon and drew inspiration from children’s colouring pages. Following further investigation, I realised Phyllis had very little to do with farm animals, instead she is most recognised for her work in the field of plant viruses, in particular potatoes, sugar beet and tomatoes. I received some help in designing the layout from my daughter Michelle who is also part of our group. We decided to add a potato plant, sugar beet and virus images recognising Phyllis’s work, but we also decided to keep the cow and the moon, as they echo my interest in animals and Niamh’s desire to travel to space.
‘ I enjoyed being part of this interesting project.’
Kathleen Turner
This is what we decided the finished twelve inch block would look like:
We chose what we felt was appropriate material for each item: – brown/gold for beautiful rich soil –blue batik for the sky – white for the moon – brown and white for my fleckvich cow – red signalling danger for each virus I traced out each section, applied fusible web, cut them out, joined the sky to the earth and ironed each piece into place before stitching around each to secure in place, this is a patchwork method called applique.
I am pleased with my piece, it has wonderful earthy colours and carton type characters that make me smile.
Good luck Niamh in your travels.
Phyllis Clinch
Created by Kathleen Turner
Mary Walsh (Group Tutor)
Remembering –Kay McNutly Mauchly Antonelli
I am in total awe of Kay McNulty, her five female colleagues and their programming skills & achievement.
To pay homage to these wonderful women, I wanted to represent the 1st generation’ ENIAC, where possible, in all of its parts.
The ENIAC was the first programable, electronic digital computer executing up to 5000 additions / second and solving many technical and scientific problems including hand calculated ballistics trajectories, and computational problems relating to the development of the hydrogen bomb along with other military projects. No memory though. The six ladies had to start calculations afresh with each new problem, a humongous task.
ENIAC had a physically challenging interface. It covered 1800 sq feet of floor space, weighed
30 tons, included 40 panels, 8’ tall, consumed 160 KW of electrical power. 2 x 220 HP coolers ran continually to avoid meltdown.
Kay McNutly Mauchly Antonelli (12/2/1921
– 20/4/2006). Born in Creeslough, Co. Donegal and on the night of her birth her father was arrested for being a suspected IRA member and imprisoned for two years. Upon his release the family emigrated to Philadelphia.
In June 1942 Kay majored in Maths and within two weeks, she along with five other women, were recruited by the army in positions normally only offered to men. Based in the Philadelphia Computing Section their title was computer assistant and had a starting salary of $1,620, double that of a secretary. They started with the rank ‘sub-professional’ or ‘sub-scientific.’ On the ENIAC first launch/ demonstration, they were asked to ‘look well’ and be hostesses. Thus were viewed as models by the public until fifty years on, in 1997, they finally received the deserved recognition and were inducted into ‘Women in Technology Hall of Fame’.
2017 2019 2020 2023
DCU honoured Kay McNulty by naming their computing building after her.
ICHEC named its supercomputer ‘Kay’ following a public poll.
3 of the current US Army supercomputers are named Kay, Jean & Betty after Kay McNulty, Jean Bartik and Betty Synder. Blue plaque unveiled in Creeslough, Co. Donegal.
Component representation is as follows:
ROBOT COMPONENTS BLOCK
Hair 100s of wires
Upcycled turn up threads from jeans
Head & Eyes Manual switches Applique
Shoulders & Stomach Resistors/pulse & Patched
Heart Relays Seminole/Suffolk puffs
Stomach Resistors/pulse Patched
Arms Capacitors
Hips Vacuum tubes
Background Pegboards
Seminole Cable fabric pattern represents Aran Knitting from Co. Donegal
Hand sewn Suffolk puffs with embroidered. French knots in centre – 10 puffs representing unary & 5 neon –up cycled skirt lining from 1970s.
Light brown, upcycled fabric
When I showed my design to my brother, an electronic engineer, he suggested I add puffs beside the heart as “the heart of the computer was both relays and vacuum tubes; the former are mechanical switches and the latter, electronic.”
Kay McNulty Mauchly Antonelli
Created by Mary Walsh (Group Tutor)
Michelle Doyle
Dr Niamh Shaw
I found the task of creating a block for Niamh exciting and eagerly scrolled the internet for more information about Niamh, her values, dreams, career, and interests and took notes: Dr Niamh Shaw is an Irish engineer, scientist, writer, performer, communicator and award winning educator.
She has two degrees in engineering and a PhD in Science, Advocate for Women in Stem, reports on TV and radio; appeared on The Late Late Show and The Tommy Tiernan Show. The author of Dream Big, writer for the Irish Times, creates events for public, schools & children’s programmes. A STEAM specialist (merging science, technology,
engineering, arts and maths). Attends conferences giving academic presentations, created three theatre shows and three multimedia installations. Has spoken at Áras an Uachtaráin in response to President Higgins ‘Women in STEM’ speech.
I love bright colours and so investigated the symbolism of colour and shared it with our group.
I made a list of the values that are important to Niamh and decided to incorporate them into her block.
They include:
• Education – academic cap
• Equity (Equality & balance) – I included gender equality symbol on cap
• Curiosity – question mark
• Connecting – I used the dot of the question mark as an individual branching out to others
• Communication – I used three lines representing speech
• Sustainability – the earth, surrounded by a circular arrow from the leaf representing a circular economy and the message that it’s everyone’s responsibility to protect our planet.
Finally settling on this image; I cut out each colour and appliqued them onto a polka dot background which can represent space, or perhaps the one hundred female scientists working together on climate change.
I like Norman Vincent Peale’s quote “Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars” or Tahir Shah’s quote “To succeed you must reach for the stars, and let your imagination find its own path
These are the colours I chose for Niamh’s block:
‘Inspirational project, be brave and adventurous; reach for your dreams!’ Michelle Doyle
• Pink – femininity, stimulating, calm
• Orange – fun, curiosity, new things, creativity, strength, bravery, ambition, enthusiasm, optimism
• Blue – Trust, loyalty, calm
• Green – nature, growth, money & harmony
• Yellow – joy, happiness, hope, reliability & durability
• Purple – honour, courage, kindness, imagination
• Red – action, strength, energy, passion I changed the colour of Niamh’s face from teal to yellow as I felt teal looked unusual, cream/yellow seemed a more natural colour and symbolic of Niamh’s character.
I decided to include Niamh’s dream to travel to space using the image from her YouTube video dream big and shiny grey velvet for the space suit. I chose the title of her book Dream Big stitched in white onto a blue background to represent her work .
Dr Niamh Shaw
Created by Michelle Doyle
Final Chapter
Mary Walsh (Group Tutor)
Niamh joined us one Thursday evening in October, where we unfolded the blocks one by one.
Strips of blue fabric were cut for the sashing. Corner stones of a different colour were discussed but it was decided to leave the sashing as it and put the Celtic Design squares at each corner of the boarder sashing.
The blocks and sashing were then assembled into vertical rows. Each row was then sewn together to form the top layer. Batting and a backing fabric were added to make the quilt sandwich. These were sprayed to stay in place and pinned to keep secure. It was ready for quilting.
2nd November was the day decided but due to inclement weather the date was moved to the 31st October. Group members came in at a designated time to quilt their own block(s). The same sewing machine and standard quilt stitch was used throughout to give the quilt uniformity both on its front and back. The bias
binding was stitched as a group project. A pocket with ties was incorporated into the backing to hold the folded quilt in place for ease of transport. The label was signed by each member and embroidered over.
It was passed onto Niamh to start on its journey.
Arriving safety in Co. Cork
November 2023, ready in Gorey Further Education & Training Centre
hashtag#iwd2024
Journey to Antarctica –Dr
Niamh Shaw
Reflections on Antarctica on International Women’s Day, March 8th 2024.
As part of the expedition with the Homeward Bound Projects international leadership programme for Women & NB persons in STEMM, we got to land briefly on the Antarctic continent. We had a very small window for this landing, the weather was changing and conditions were not good. It was my one and only opportunity to acknowledge the work & craftsmanship of 10 women from the Gorey region in Co. Wexford, who I had been working with since the summer. And who had created something very special for my voyage.
These women are Sally, Kathleen, Mary Walsh, Adrienne, Mary D, Jane, Cathy, Anita, Michelle & Yvonne O’Connor . They are part of a sewing group who meet weekly at the Waterford & Wexford Education Training Board (WWETB) Adult Education building. Together they designed a quilt for the expedition (made entirely from pre-loved fabric) to honour Irish Women who blazed a trail in science, but whose stories were somehow overlooked in my science and history books. They researched
many forgotten women and each selected a woman who they felt had found a personal connection.
Each panel of the quilt was designed & made by one of the group and was their artistic response to the work and life of the woman they researched. In October they presented their design to me, and I was deeply moved by the impact these scientists had on them. And the superb quality of the quilt. I knew I had to bring their quilt with me & find a really special moment to share it with the world. I decided to bring it along that afternoon & see if I could record something. I jammed the quilt into my tiny dry bag & when we landed asked my
HB cohort to help me out, which they kindly did. It wasn’t easy, walking in rubber boots in slushy snow is difficult enough, on top of maintaining all the biosecurity regulations whilst on land. But thankfully we managed it & this is how it all unfolded. It’s a very special moment for anyone to stand on the Antarctic continent. But I think mine was all the richer.
The postcard Niamh sent to the group from the Penguin Post Office in Antarctica.
A snood with photos of all the blocks from the quilt.
Niamh wearing the snood on her journey.
Niamh Returning with The Quilt and Stories
Niamh
Returning with The Quilt and Stories
‘Celebrating the incredible things that can happen when we all work together.’
Dr Niamh Shaw
Gorey Further Education and Training Centre, February 2024
Dr Niamh Shaw returned from Antarctica with the quilt and stories of her travels.
Left: Nessa White, Executive Director SOLAS. Mary Walsh, Group Tutor, Adrienne Casey, Mary Donelan, Cathy Quirke, Anita Orr, Michelle Doyle, Jane Murphy Byrne, Kathleen Turner, Sally Earle, Yvonne O’Connor, Community Education Facilitator, North Wexford & Dr Niamh Shaw.
Credits
Thank you to everyone who took part and supported this project.
• Mary Walsh, WWETB Group Tutor
• Adrienne Casey
• Mary Donelan
• Cathy Quirke
• Anita Orr
• Michelle Doyle
• Jane Murphy Byrne
• Kathleen Turner
• Sally Earle
• Dr Niamh Shaw
• Yvonne O’Connor, Community Education Facilitator, North Wexford
• Paula Malone Carty WWETB photography tutor
• Fran Kennedy, WWETB Adult Education Officer
• Caroline Wheelock WWETB
• Bridin Lyng Maloney WWTEB
Community Education Programme
