“Bad Bridget,” an archival research project about Irish women who emigrated to New York, Boston, and Toronto between 1838 and 1918 and engaged in criminal and sexually deviant activities, is being adapted into a Hollywood film. The project, launched by historians Elaine Farrell and Leanne McCormick in 2015, has already produced a podcast, a book, and a museum exhibition at the Ulster American Folk Park. The film will be produced by Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap Entertainment, directed by Rich Peppiatt, and star Daisy Edgar-Jones and Emilia Jones as two Irish sisters navigating scandal in 19th-century New York.
This adaptation matters because it brings long-overlooked stories of marginalized Irish immigrant women to a mainstream audience, challenging traditional stereotypes and reclaiming their narratives. The project’s expansion from academic research to a major film underscores the growing cultural appetite for historical stories that center women’s experiences, and highlights how archival scholarship can fuel popular media. The involvement of high-profile talent like Margot Robbie and Daisy Edgar-Jones signals significant commercial and cultural investment in this history.