The Ireland We Dreamed Of is a new performance by visual artist Sinead McCann in collaboration with sociologist Dr Louise Brangan.

In Catholic Ireland, moral purity and virtue had become the national motifs. The problem was, you can’t claim purity if you know otherwise. The dirt and sin that defied it had to be scrubbed from Ireland’s national consciousness.

Work, work, work. Pray, pray, pray. That was the only way to keep the devil and your secrets at bay.

This powerful performance explores what it was like to live with the unbearable weight of self-denial, how silence seeped into our homes, and the bravery it took to break out from this world of secrets.

Readers are advised to check with the venue before relying on the details published here.