Visit a new temporary exhibition exploring the life of District Midwife and Nurse Mary Anne Fanning from 1880 to 1964.

Mary Anne worked as a District Midwife and Nurse in Co Kerry and then in Garristown, Co Dublin, over the course of a 48-year long career.

Through Mary Anne’s story, this exhibition seeks to highlight and celebrate the often-unsung contributions of community midwives to maternity care in Ireland in the early 20^th century.


Discover what life was like for a rural midwife through Mary Anne’s personal artefacts, family stories, audio recordings and community research, while enjoying poetry and artwork created in her memory. Visitors are also invited to share their own recollections in our Midwives’ Memory Book.

Learn more about the role of community midwives who sustained the lives of mothers and babies while birthing at home, often under very poor conditions.

From the midwife’s bag to documents and letters that provide an insight into Mary Anne’s work during this period, discover an exhibition about one woman’s vocation and the role of maternity care as it developed in the emerging Irish State.

This exhibition is a project by the Irish Community Archive Network (iCAN), researched and curated by Emma Laffey, Skehana & District Heritage Group, County Galway, with support from co-curators Dr Éimear O’Connor, Director of Collections & Access, National Museum of Ireland, and Lorna Elms, iCAN Development Officer.

iCAN supports volunteer groups to gather, record, and share their community’s history and heritage online. An initiative of the National Museum of Ireland, iCAN is delivered in partnership with the Heritage Council and participating Local Authority Heritage Officers. 

Upcoming events

Talk: Leitrim Women Through Time
Saturday 28 June 2025 | 3pm - 4pm
Join Donna Gilligan, Heritage Consultant and Curator of the Leitrim Women Through Time exhibition as she looks at Leitrim Midwives through the ages.