Rachel Fehily is a widely published author of several books, plays (including a monologue for Signatories, UCD's 1916 commemoration play) and newspaper articles. She practiced as a barrister at the Bar of Ireland for 20 years and is currently lecturing on Literature and Justice at UCD. She is researching her creative based PhD thesis at the School of Drama under the supervision of Prof Eamonn Jordan at University College Dublin.

Her research question for her PhD thesis is as follows: “How does a researcher with a singular background, a research domain containing differing adoption narratives from various family members, a professional understanding of legal and conflict resolution practice and theory, and as a creative writer, write a memoir through a feminist and legal lens about the complications of a multi-racial, adoptive identity?”

She is currently writing journal articles, researching, attending conferences to share her research, creative mentorship and collaborations on upcoming projects and continues to provide pro bono legal aid.

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This paper will explore the potential for theatricalising the silenced histories of mixed-race Irish children, now adults, born to Irish women and students from the global south in mid-20th century Ireland. These individuals, a legacy of Ireland’s postcolonial connections and complex socio-political landscape, remain largely voiceless in public memory. Through a creative-based practice methodology this paper investigates how documentary theatre might act as a medium to memorialise their lived experiences, interrogating both personal and collective histories.

At the heart of this inquiry is the question: How can theatre respond to the erasure of these identities and stories? Many of these children were born to women confined in Catholic County Homes, with the fathers—students who had been welcomed into Ireland by De Valera as part of its diplomatic ties to postcolonial nations—absent or stripped of legal recognition. These students studied in institutions such as The Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin, as part of government schemes to equip them with skills to develop their newly independent states. However, the resulting mixed-race children were abandoned to systems of institutional neglect, adoption, or trafficking, their lives rendered invisible within Ireland’s national narrative.

In recent years, some members of the Association of Mixed Race Irish have made speeches in the Dail and sought and been given an apology, but lack the initiative or resources to produce an artistic theatrical event about their own histories. This paper explores theatrical strategies to embody their stories and amplify their voices. It also examines the symbolic significance of spaces—Universities where their fathers studied—as sites of abandonment and potential reconciliation. The project ultimately seeks to address the gaps in Ireland’s collective memory, offering theatre as a tool for remembrance, justice, and transformation.