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    Interview with Amanda Ní Shorachain recorded online on 01/03/2025; Interview Accession No: 0UNA-U1X0028

    Cite as: Beecher, Ruth (2025): Interview with Amanda Ní Shorachain recorded online on 01/03/2025; Interview Accession No: 0UNA-U1X0028. Birkbeck College, University of London.

    Description

    Amanda was born in 1968 and lived in Leicestershire at date of interview. She is originally from County Monaghan where her parents met and married. Her mother converted to Catholicism and Amanda reflects on the importance of religion in the family. She is one of the youngest of ten children and describes growing up in a large family where her older siblings had begun to move away.

    Amanda talks about her teenage years and experience of attending a Convent school and how she and others were treated. She discusses her and her family’s interest and involvement in Irish history and politics of the time. Amanda describes herself as rebellious and concerned about injustice and her mother’s worries about this.

    Her original plans to go to college to study Irish History, Politics and Society were thwarted by her exam results and after a period on a different course, Amanda talks about a summer visit to America which led to an extended stay and a decision to train as a nurse.

    On return to Ireland to Amanda and her friend were accepted for nurse training in Bedfordshire in England. She describes travelling to England and meeting other Irish trainees who are still friends today. She reflects on this period as a wonderful time with incredible memories.

    Previews


    1 - Audio Track interview with Amanda Ní Shorachain recorded online on 01/03/2025; Interview Accession No: 0UNA-U1X0028 (0UNA-U1X0028XX-0001M0r.mp3)

    Collection Method

    Interviews with a range of women born in Ireland during the twentieth century or those with Irish connections. The aim was to gather the stories, memories and opinions of Irish women born in each decade of the twentieth century, about their experiences between the approximate ages of 15 and 25. The sample was found simply through women with whom volunteer interviewers had a connection or through Irish organisations. Interviews were recorded and participants checked and approved the transcripts and recordings.
    See website https://unaganaguna.org/

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    Metadata

    Dataset Title:

    Interview with Amanda Ní Shorachain recorded online on 01/03/2025; Interview Accession No: 0UNA-U1X0028
    Creators:

    Beecher, Ruth
    Dataset Contributors:

    ContributionNameEmailORCID
    NarratorNí Shorachain, AmandaUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
    InterviewerRodwell, PatUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
    School/Department:

    Birkbeck Schools and Research Centres > School of Social Sciences, History and Philosophy > History, Classics and Archaeology
    Keywords:

    Monaghan, Catholicism, education (school and university), Irish history and politics, nursing training in England, attitudes to sex and contraception, social and love life.
    Data collection method:

    Interviews with a range of women born in Ireland during the twentieth century or those with Irish connections. The aim was to gather the stories, memories and opinions of Irish women born in each decade of the twentieth century, about their experiences between the approximate ages of 15 and 25. The sample was found simply through women with whom volunteer interviewers had a connection or through Irish organisations. Interviews were recorded and participants checked and approved the transcripts and recordings.
    See website https://unaganaguna.org/
    Collection period:

    FromTo
    1 March 20251 March 2025
    Temporal coverage:

    FromTo
    19682025
    Statement on legal, ethical, and access issues:

    The research proposal was ethically approved by the School of Historical Studies at Birkbeck, University of London.
    Depositing User: Ruth Beecher
    Date Deposited: 03 Feb 2026 17:32
    Last Modified: 03 Feb 2026 17:32
    Publisher: Birkbeck College, University of London

    Export / Share Citation

    Cite as: Beecher, Ruth (2025): Interview with Amanda Ní Shorachain recorded online on 01/03/2025; Interview Accession No: 0UNA-U1X0028. Birkbeck College, University of London.

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