The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
‘This award is dedicated to all women whose lives were destroyed by Church actions’
A STAND taken by Listowel people in the 1940s was heard internationally last week as Conor Keane took the International Radio Award for his documentary of the episode at an awards described as Spain’s BAFTAs.
‘In Shame, Love, In Shame’ told the whole story of Peggy McCarthy and her brutal treatment at the hands of the religious simply for the fact that she was pregnant out of wedlock.
Turned away from two hospitals while she was suffering an agonising labour, only to die in the back of local hackney driver John Guerin’s cab, she suffered further indignity when the Church closed its gates on her remains.
That act prompted Listowel in a popular uprising, with the ordinary people of the town succeeding in securing Peggy a Christian burial, at the very least.
Former Irish Examiner business editor Conor Keane, who also worked in The Kerryman for many years, accepted the award – along with fellow producer Liam O’Brien – in front of 2,500 people at the 65 th Premios Ondas Awards in Barcelona’s Gran Teatre de Liceu.
As he did, he dedicated the win to all those women who were ‘destroyed’ by the actions of the Catholic Church. “We want to dedicate this award to all those women whose lives were destroyed by the inexplicable actions of the Irish Catholic church, and the inexcusable failure of the Irish State to protect the most vulnerable,” Conor said.
The RTÉ ‘Documentary on One’ won out against no fewer than 300 other entries from across the globe. Narrated with deep empathy for Peggy McCarthy by Conor, it tells the whole story of the 1946 horror through the voices of so many from North Kerry – including Solo Run author Tony Guerin, who is a son of the hackney driver John Guerin.