She was known in this town for over twenty years to be a prostitute of the lowest type.

This is how the Governor of Galway jail described Maggie, who, by 1892, had one

hundred and twelve convictions or petty offences and four for larceny recorded against her. She was one of many thousands of women who were sent to jail in Galway in the late nineteenth century for a variety of offences. This book tells their story.

In 2000 Geraldine Curtin completed an M.A. in History and Local Studies at the University of Limerick.