Róisín
Róisín explores the life of Charlotte Grace O’Brien (1845–1909), O’Donovan’s great-great-great-great aunt. As a writer, plant collector, and activist, O’Brien worked on behalf of Irish women emigrating to the United States in the late nineteenth century. She campaigned against the conditions they experienced in Queenstown, now Cobh, aboard ships and upon their arrival in New York. In researching this figure, O’Donovan’s inquiry took her from Cobh to Dublin, Limerick and New York through archives, libraries, botanical collections and places connected to O’Brien.
The resulting film, Róisín, takes the form of a ‘desktop documentary’. It unfolds through a voice-over based on a script written by O’Donovan, illustrated with browser windows showing archival materials and photographs, digital drawings and footage shot in Cobh and New York. Accompanying the film is an installation that references the decorative floral plasterwork found in Irish state buildings, such as Leinster House. These motifs connect O’Donovan’s examination of O’Brien’s interests in botany, depictions of Irish women in the diasporic imaginary, and the visual language of Irish nationhood.
