Teresa Deevy: A Quiet Subversive

Waterford Institute of Technology & Maynooth University have partnered to co-curate an exhibition and a series of public lectures examining Deevy’s work as a criticism of the restrictions of Irish women in the 1930s, her portrait of female characters in the plays produced by the Abbey Theatre in the 1930s, and how her life in Waterford, particularly her days in the Ursuline Convent, influenced and impacted on her writing and her knowledge and passion for literature. The exhibition assembles artefacts from friends and relatives of Tessa Deevy including original publications of her work, recollections by her family and items from the Deevy family book collection. The exhibition includes items and artefacts normally inaccessible to the public and never before exhibited as a collection. The launch and public lecture series in April offers a unique opportunity to consider the influences and concerns of a writer now recognised as one of the major contributors to the Irish dramatic canon. The exhibition is co-curated by Dr Una Kealy, Waterford Institute of Technology and Barbara McCormack in Maynooth University.