Historian Dr Marion McGarry discusses the links between the Sligo’s Cholera epidemic of 1832 and the authors novels.

In October 2020 Hamilton Gallery in Sligo hosted an exhibition of paintings and sculpture themed around the writings of Bram Stoker. It featured works by artists Mike Bunn, Patrick Colhoun, Graham Gingles, Lisa Gingles, Cara Gordon, Paula Pohli, Gerard Scott and Eleanor Swan.

Sligo town was the childhood home of Bram Stokers mother Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornley. Charlottes written account of the horrors of a Cholera pandemic that took hold in Sligo in 1832 inspired the writings of Bram Stoker, including his most famous novel Dracula.

In this short video produced by Joseph Hunt, historian Dr McGarry of Sligo Stoker Society outlines the places where his mothers account of the pandemic emerges in Bram Stokers writings. Dr McGarry's talk is interspersed with images of the artworks in the exhibition.

View the short video of the virtual opening by Dr McGarry and Dr Gallagher