The Monto district in Dublin, a former red-light area from the 1860s to 1925, served as a refuge for many women escaping the harsh realities of poverty. The madams who ran it rose from dire circumstances—often survivors of the Famine—to control an environment fraught with both opportunity and exploitation. While many women found financial independence, others faced trauma and abuse. A podcast featuring Kevin Doyle and Caroline West sheds light on these forgotten stories from Dublin's most notorious neighborhood.
Nestled in between O'Connell Street and Connolly station lies an unassuming Dublin neighbourhood that holds a hidden history - it was once the site of Monto, a red-light district from the 1860s to 1925.
Their legacy is complicated. The madams simultaneously offered a way out of poverty for many but, for others, the madams ensured their rapid descent into trauma.
Monto's earliest madams in the 1860s were women that survived the horror of the Famine and the brutality of poverty and the workhouse.
They navigated the court system, befriending judges and policemen, and essentially enjoyed free reign to operate how they pleased in this one-square-mile pocket of sexual freedom and sexual violence.
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