An Táin Arts Centre and Quintessence Theatre Present Belfast Girls

"We have this one an’ only chance. An’ in all the kingdom of Ireland aren’t we – us women – aren’t we damned lucky to be getting out of it?”

Set in 1850, Belfast Girls tells the story of five fierce young women who face their dark pasts on a ship bound for Australia, as they leave Belfast in search of a better life. Confined in close quarters in the belly of the ship, they embark on a tumultuous sea journey as they sail away from their homeland. Secrets are revealed, enemies made, and it becomes clear that no matter where they go, there is no escaping the past.

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An award-winning feminist play based on a true piece of largely untold Irish history Jaki McCarrick’s Belfast Girls follows the story of five fierce young Irish women aboard the Inchinnan travelling from Belfast to Australia during the Famine in the desperate hope of a new life abroad. But the further from home they voyage the more each of them comes to realise they cannot escape their pasts, nor the seemingly universal subjugation of their gender. Over the long ship journey the women form intense bonds, and life-changing secrets are revealed, personal and political.

Originally presented in 2024, this is a new production under the direction of Rhiann Jeffrey.

You may also like the following events from Riverbank Arts Centre:

• Next month, 3rd September, 02:00 pm, Anna Newell Theatre Adventures Presents SHIMMER in Kildare
• Next month, 6th September, 08:00 pm, The Empty Nest in Kildare
• Next month, 27th September, 08:00 pm, Anne Gildea - Further Adventures in WOMANING in Kildare

Also check out other Arts events in Kildare, Theatre events in Kildare.