Over 1,000 post-it notes left at a ‘shrine’ to Savita Halappanavar in May 2018 have been photographed, archived and made available online.
The Savita Halappanvar memorial collection is a publishing collaboration between Dublin City Council’s library and archive (DCLA) and the Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI).
About 1,200 small notes were posted around a mural of Ms Halappanavar on hoarding by the now-closed Bernard Shaw pub in Portobello – in the days after the referendum which repealed the 8th amendment from the Constitution on May 25th, 2018.
The mural, by artist Aches, had been erected the day before the vote. Apparently spontaneously, after over 60 per cent of the electorate voted in favour of repeal, hundreds of people left flowers and about 1,200 notes expressing their emotions at the moment they stood at the makeshift shrine.
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On 29th May, photographer Alastair Smeaton was commissioned by the council to take photos of the mural, and of sections of it with the notes. In all 197 of the photographs have been archived.
The death of Ms Halappanavar (31) in October 2012, following a septic miscarriage after she had been refused an abortion in Galway University Hospital, is widely regarded as an event which spurred thousands of abortion rights activists into action, culminating in the repeal of the 8th amendment.
The 8th amendment to the Constitution in 1983 had given equal value to the life of the mother and the unborn, making abortion illegal in all but the most restricted circumstances.
[ How the death of Savita Halappanavar revolutionised IrelandOpens in new window ]
Clare Lanigan, digital archivist at the DRI, described the Post-it messages, now viewable now at the DRI site, as “really quite moving”. Written in several languages they communicate sadness, anger and celebration.
Among the messages are: “My vote was for you and all the other women who had to die before the change. RIP Savita. “; “Rinneamar e seo I gcuimhne ortsa”, and, “I am sorry we were too late. You will never be forgotten.”
Others said: “We came home in our droves to vote for you. #hometovote. “; “For our sisters, daughters and mothers, never again x”; “Savita, we have our wombs back. I am so sorry that you suffered so horrendously. Rest now and always in peace x.“, and, “Couldn’t make it right. Had to make it matter.”
“Savita, may your light forever shine and continue to lead us from our dark past,” said one message while another wrote: “I’m so sorry it came to [sic] late, but it was because of you, WE DID IT!”
In French one wrote simply, “Plus jamais”.
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Ms Lanigan, explained archiving the material was part of a wider project, Archiving Reproductive Health which, since 2021, has been collecting and archiving digital material relating to reproductive rights in Ireland.
Dublin city archivist Lorraine McLoughlin said the photographs provided evidence “of this unique moment in history. Capturing and preserving these key moments in the history and story of Dublin – and making them available to future generations – are key functions of Dublin city archives, a service of Dublin City Council.”
The collection is accessible to the general public and researchers. The latter will be able to cite the material as each photograph has a DOI (digital object identifier).
The Savita Halappanavar memorial collection is available at https://repository.dri.ie/
