Throughout the 20th century in Ireland, thousands of women and girls were sent to work in Magdalene Laundries all across the country. By 1951, for every 100,000 women in Ireland, 70 were locked away in a laundry, spending their days “scrubbing and praying in an attempt to salvage their souls”. In her new book, The Fallen, academic and writer Louise Brangan uses archive material and survivor testimonies to tell the story of six women who spent years toiling away unpaid in Magdalene laundries, all of whom were brought there under false pretences. In this episode, Brangan tells Róisín Ingle what day to day life was like for these women, why their history should never be forgotten and why the laundries are so often confused with Ireland’s mother and baby homes.

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Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh always wanted to become a mother and spent years hoping she’d meet the right person to start a family with. By 2024 however, Walsh was done waiting and she decided to embark upon solo parenthood, as a single, gay woman. In early 2025, she began her fertility journey and finally became pregnant through IVF earlier this year. Today, Walsh is 24 weeks pregnant and happier than ever, although admittedly a bit nervous and excited for what’s to come.

In today’s episode, the expectant mother joins Róisín Ingle to talk about her decision to go it alone and the questions she had to ask herself along the way. Walsh discusses why she chose to keep the start of her journey private and the emotional challenges that came with that decision. She also explains how she plans to balance motherhood with her role as a member of the European Parliament and she reveals the gender of her baby, who is due this October.

This podcast was updated on July 3rd.

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Back in March, The Women’s Podcast book club read Heart the Lover by American author Lily King. The story which tells of a complicated love triangle between college students Jordan, Yash and Sam, was adored by each of our bookclubbers - something regular listeners of the book club will know, doesn’t happen very often. So when we got the opportunity to have King on the podcast, we jumped at the chance.

In today’s episode, the best-selling author joins Róisín Ingle to discuss the teenage relationship which inspired the story and her surprise at the book’s huge success. We also hear about King's chaotic family background growing up in Massachusetts, her formative college years and what it's like to live in Trump's America.

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