All aboard the contraceptive train episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 29, 2026 · 34 MIN

All aboard the contraceptive train

from What Were We Like · host RTÉ

The Irish Women's Liberation Movement, Mary Magee and the fight for contraceptive rights in Ireland.  It was the 1970s and in many ways, things were grim for the women of Ireland. Marital rape was permitted, women had to stop working in the public service when they got married, and most relevantly for this podcast, contraception was illegal. Here, Diarmaid and Catriona tell the stories of the brave women and men who fought to change that. Two key events feature: the famous "Contraceptive train" of 1971, in which a group of women bought contraceptives in Northern Ireland - where they were legal - and brought them back across the border, and dared the Gardai to arrest them. The second is the remarkable bravery of Mary Magee, whose legal case paved the way for contraceptives to become legal in Ireland.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jun 29, 2026

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All aboard the contraceptive train

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