Northern Ireland

New exhibition highlighting adversities faced by female migrants opens at Ulster American Folk Park

Pictured at the launch of the Bad Bridget exhibibition at the Ulster American Folk Park are Fiona McDonnell, Tasha Marks, Victoria Millar, Jan Carson, Andrew McDowell, Kathryn Thomson, Franziska Schroeder, Dr Leanne McCormick and Dr Elaine Farrell. Picture by Darren Kidd/Press Eye
Pictured at the launch of the Bad Bridget exhibibition at the Ulster American Folk Park are Fiona McDonnell, Tasha Marks, Victoria Millar, Jan Carson, Andrew McDowell, Kathryn Thomson, Franziska Schroeder, Dr Leanne McCormick and Dr Elaine Farrell. Pictur Pictured at the launch of the Bad Bridget exhibibition at the Ulster American Folk Park are Fiona McDonnell, Tasha Marks, Victoria Millar, Jan Carson, Andrew McDowell, Kathryn Thomson, Franziska Schroeder, Dr Leanne McCormick and Dr Elaine Farrell. Picture by Darren Kidd/Press Eye

An exhibition highlighting the adversities many women and girls faced when they migrated to North America from Ireland in the 19th and early 20th centuries has opened at the Ulster American Folk Park.

The `Bad Bridget' exhibition looks at the experiences of Irish girls and women in Boston, New York and Toronto from 1838 to 1918.

The exhibition has been predominantly developed and curated by a female team with funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

The initial research and concept behind Bad Bridget was carried out by Dr Elaine Farrell, from Queen’s University and Dr Leanne McCormick, from Ulster University.

Victoria Millar, Senior Curator of History at National Museums NI, said: "Traditionally, women’s stories have been underrepresented at the Ulster American Folk Park, even though women accounted for around half of Irish migrants from 1800 onwards."

"Bad Bridget represents the beginning of a new experience here for our visitors with our collaboration focusing on new sensory elements," she said.

Further information is available at https://www.nmni.com/whats-on/bad-bridget