Here's a quick read to explain what this blog is about . I hope you can join this journey into the history of Ireland in London's past.

This plaque on the side of Newington Green Primary School records the presence of one of Stoke Newington’s leading intellectual dissenters – that pioneering champion of women’s rights, Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797). For two years, she tried to earn a living by running a girls’ school on this site. When the school failed, she worked in Ireland as a governess – an experience which influenced her groundbreaking work, A Vindication of the Rights of Women.

Curiosity about London's connections with Ireland had prompted me to search The London Archives' online catalogue for all entries containing the word "Irish". That led to a file titled "Irish Distressed Ladies' Fund" which I automatically assumed was one of the many philanthropic ventures formed in London over the years in support of Ireland's poor and peasant populations. It turned out to be something very different indeed.