Updates

Recent Updates:


Open Heart City recently won a UCD Impact Award for its work in ‘Inspiring a site of national conscience at the Sean McDermott Street Magdalene Laundry‘! The impact of our research is on government policy, while the lasting impact is an innovative model for addressing dark heritage which will educate, enrich communities, and contribute towards justice.

Inspiring a site of national conscience at the Sean McDermott Street Magdalene Laundry

Research Impact Case Study by Professor Katherine O’Donnell & Professor Hugh Campbell (runners-up in the 2022 UCD Research Impact Case Study Competition). Additional footage courtesy of André Goyvaerts.


The Government Steering Group, comprising key State stakeholders and chaired by Mr Martin Fraser who is overseeing the development, coordination and implementation of the redevelopment of Sean McDermott St, have recently disseminated a call fo the Provision of Educational and Community Services along the lines of our proposed Vision Document.


A Dublin Magdalene Laundry: Donnybrook & Church-State Power in Ireland, Bloomsbury, 2023 which contains the work of a number of Open Heart City members is now in print and available to order.


The Open Heart City Exhibition was featured on RTÉ television programme Nationwide – click below to watch:

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Open Heart City Exhibition – February 2022

As part of Brigit 2022, the Open Heart City Exhibition featured the work of over 40 Masters of Architecture students from University College Dublin and Queens University Belfast relating to the site of the former Magdalene Laundry on Sean McDermott St.

This exhibition showcases analysis, drawings and models undertaken by the students in 2020. The exhibition also includes research carried out by CoLab81-7 who, with the support of the Irish Arts Council and Justice for Magdalenes Research, have been investigating how the heritage of these sites of conscience should be acknowledged and explored in order to inform their future role in the lives of our cities.

Vision Document – Interim Report

This Interim Vision Document sets out the objectives, processes and initial outcomes of the CoLab 81-7 project to develop a future vision for the site of the former Magdalene laundry at Sean McDermott Street in Dublin city. Please find more information about the project and the Interim Vision Document here.


In this section of the website, you will find previous consultations and statements from survivors regarding memorialisation of Ireland’s 20th century institutional, church-related and gender-based abuses. You can also view the University College Dublin and Queen’s University Belfast architecture students’ work and design proposals from 2020 and any upcoming events for Open Heart City and the Sean McDermott Street site at the links provided below:


We will also keep you up to date with the latest posts from our Open Heart City Blog: