“The Scarlet Woman in Person”: The Establishment of a Family Planning Service in Northern Ireland, 1950-1974’

There is now an increasing body of research on the history of birth control and family planning. However, little work has yet been carried out on the provision and establishment of clinics at a local and regional level after 1945. This article seeks to fill this gap by describing and interpreting the establishment of a family planning service in Northern Ireland from the 1950s onwards. The distinctive religious, social, political and cultural situation in the province ensured that the manner in which clinics were established and the issues and difficulties that were faced differed from those elsewhere in the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland provides a valuable case-study of how local and regional differences influenced the establishment and growth of family planning services.