In the city of Cork lies the former Victorian mental asylum known as Our Lady’s, now transformed into modern apartments. The building and its stories are a haunting presence in both Doireann Ní Ghríofa’s Said the Dead and Noelle McCarthy’s Stakes.

Blending fiction, fact and archival discovery, Said the Dead uncovers the stories of the women who knew this asylum best, moving between past and present as Ní Ghríofa delves into the hospital’s casebooks. McCarthy’s darkly funny memoir about Dracula, desire, and self-acceptance returns repeatedly to Our Lady’s in its many incarnations, where her mother Carol worked as a nurse.

In conversation with Claire Mabey, these Irish authors discuss the building’s hold on their lives, its violence and legacy, and how the dead continue to speak through archives, memory and storytelling.