The Women of New York

ITMA staff have worked hard over the years to ensure gender equality in all aspects of its work, from images adorning the walls of the building to material published on-line, and everything in between. This exhibition was notable to the curators for its absence of female participants, particularly in the Early Years and Recording Age, which in turn let to many discussions about the nature of female participation in the music scene in those years.

We have done as much as possible to highlight the female participants that do feature in the project, and we would welcome any further information on any of them. At the same time there were still many women's names listed in photographs and on recordings for which we have little further information, and therefore don't have a presence in their own right. Dorothy Hayden (singer), Mae Touhey (dancer), Kathleen Andrews (piano), Della McMahon (singer), Eileen O'Shea (piano), Alice Dorian (singer), Rose Wall (dancer) Dorothy Plunkett (dancer), Bessie Dunne (singer), Helen Savage (piano), Ann Hayden, Dorothy Hill, Rita Hill, Peggy Riordan (fiddle), Bernie Monahan (accordion), Mae Kelly (fiddle), Margaret McLoughlin (dancer), Margaret McTigue (fiddle), Agnes McCoy (fiddle), Bessie O'Neill (singer), Anna O'Leary (drums), May Walsh (accordion), Helen McTigue (mandolin), Catherine McCoy (piano), Kathleen Greene (fiddle), Kathleen Monahan (fiddle) and others for whom we have no names at all.

Below are some images and audio recordings from these women to highlight their important, and oft-overlooked, contribution.