Women invade Dublin's male-only swimming spot
Women fought for their right to Dublin's male-only swimming spot, the Forty Foot, in 1974. For years, male swimmers had told women they couldn't swim off the Irish beach.
The Forty Foot is a famous sea swimming spot in Ireland’s capital city of Dublin. For hundreds of years, only men had the privilege of bathing in its deep, icy waters – naked if they chose.
That was until one day in the summer of 1974, when a group of women decided to plot an invasion.
At a time when Irish women couldn’t even access contraception, why did this group of hardy feminists decide to fight this particular battle for equality?
Rosie Blunt speaks to poet, writer, women’s rights activist, and swimmer Mary Dorcey.
(Photo: Woman diving at the Forty Foot in 2019. Credit: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
Last on
More episodes
Broadcasts
Fri 25 Aug 2023 07:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service- Fri 25 Aug 2023 11:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service
- Fri 25 Aug 2023 17:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Fri 25 Aug 2023 21:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Sat 26 Aug 2023 02:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except Australasia
- Sun 11 Aug 2024 16:00GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 FM
Featured in...
![]()
Irish history—Witness History
How Irish society and culture has changed through the decades
Podcast
-
![]()
Witness History
History as told by the people who were there
