
St Patrick and the Patriarchy: Women’s rights in Ireland
We Are History
00:00
Casablanca: A Political Film
The Republic's severe censorship regime meant that Irish cinema goers would have seen a version of Casablanca that cut out any reference to Rick and Ilse's affair in Paris. Ireland wasn't oppressed by the Catholic Church with nuns wielding battens and controlling water cannons. But there was still terrible suffering inflicted on powerless people by the church. Sexually abused children with no one to turn to. Young mothers forcibly separated from their babies. Babies and girls buried in secret. Girls enslaved in laundries. The overall oppression was worse in the Republic because of the stranglehold that the church had over the populace. And the absolute impunity enjoyed by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in the Republic.
Transcript
Play full episode