SESSION 3

How Gender Roles Were Inherited

In this session we explore:

• Male absence through migration
• Emotional distance and silence
• Women holding families and communities together
• Hidden or covert forms of matriarchal authority
• The protection of sons
• Daughters carrying early responsibility
• The quiet dismissal or marginalisation of men

Through guided genogram work, participants begin mapping the patterns within their own ancestry.

We ask:

Who left?
Who stayed?
Who held the family system together?
Who did not fit the expected roles?
What remained unspoken?

Seen in this light, gender roles often appear less as fixed identities and more as adaptive strategies within families navigating migration, economic strain and social expectation.

Understanding these patterns allows us to recognise what was inherited, and how it continues to shape Irish family life today.

If this inquiry speaks to something in your own history, we invite you to join us.*

*If the cost is a barrier but the inquiry speaks to you, please contact us. We are open to exploring payment plans or other arrangements.