Magdalen Asylum
Encyclopedia
Asylums for these girls and women (and others believed to be of poor moral character, such as prostitutes) operated throughout Europe, Britain, Ireland, Canada and the United States for much of the 19th and well into the 20th century.
The first asylum in Ireland opened on Leeson Street
Leeson Street
Leeson Street is a thoroughfare near central Dublin, Ireland.Originally known as Suesey Street, it was renamed in 1728 after the Leesons, a family of local brewers, who branched into property development and subsequently became Earls of Milltown....
in Dublin in 1765, founded by the Protestant Lady Arabella Denny.
In Belfast there was a Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
run Ulster Magdalene Asylum
Ulster Magdalene Asylum
Ulster Magdalene Asylum was founded in 1839 on Donegall Pass, Belfast, by the Church of Ireland, like other Magdalene Asylum it catered for fallen women. It was founded as part of the St Mary Magdalene Parish and was to provide an asylum for penitent females with chapel attached and named the...
(founded in 1839) on Donegall Pass, while parallel institutions were run by Catholics on Ormeau Road
Ormeau Road
The Ormeau Road is a road in south Belfast, Northern Ireland. Ormeau Park is adjacent to it. It forms part of the A24.-History:Having previously been the home of George Chichester, 2nd Marquess of Donegall, a road was first built in 1815, when it was known more commonly as the New Ballynafeigh Road...
and by Presbyterians on Whitehall Parade.
Initially the mission of the asylums was often to rehabilitate women back into society, but by the early 20th century the homes had become increasingly punitive and prison-like. In most of these asylums, the inmates were required to undertake hard physical labour, including laundry and needle work. They also endured a daily regime that included long periods of prayer and enforced silence. In Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, such asylums were known as Magdalene laundries. It has been estimated that up to 30,000 women passed through such laundries in Ireland. The last Magdalene asylum, in Waterford
Waterford
Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...
, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, closed on September 25, 1996.
Origins
Leeson Street
Leeson Street is a thoroughfare near central Dublin, Ireland.Originally known as Suesey Street, it was renamed in 1728 after the Leesons, a family of local brewers, who branched into property development and subsequently became Earls of Milltown....
was the first such institution in Ireland. Founded in 1765 by Lady Arabella Denny
Arabella Denny
Lady Arabella Denny was an Irish philanthropist, founder of the Magdalen Asylum for Protestant Girls in Leeson Street, Dublin in 1765.-Early life and family:...
, it admitted only Protestant girls. In 1918 the home became a children's home and adoption society. Following the Leeson Street asylum's closure, the Bethany Home
Bethany Home
Bethany Home was a residential home in Dublin for women of the Protestant faith, convicted of petty theft, prostitution, infanticide, as well as for women who were pregnant out of wedlock, and the children of these women...
, founded in 1921, provided similar refuge services for Protestant "fallen women".
The first Catholic home was founded in Cork in 1809.
Magdalene asylums grew out of the Evangelical rescue movement in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
during the 19th century, whose formal goal was to rehabilitate prostitutes. In Ireland, the institutions were named for St. Mary Magdalene.
The Magdalene movement in Ireland was appropriated by the Catholic Church following Catholic Emancipation in 1829 and the homes, which were initially intended to be short-term refuges, increasingly turned into long-term institutions. Penitents were required to work, primarily in laundries
Laundry
Laundry is a noun that refers to the act of washing clothing and linens, the place where that washing is done, and/or that which needs to be, is being, or has been laundered...
, since the facilities were self-supporting and were not funded by either the State or the Religious denominations.
As the Magdalene movement became increasingly distant from the original idea of the Rescue Movement (finding alternative work for prostitutes who could not find regular employment because of their background), the asylums became increasingly prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
-like. Supervising nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
s were instructed to encourage the women into penance
Penance
Penance is repentance of sins as well as the proper name of the Roman Catholic, Orthodox Christian, and Anglican Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation/Confession. It also plays a part in non-sacramental confession among Lutherans and other Protestants...
, rather than merely berating them and blocking their escape attempts.
The Congregation of the Sisters of Misericorde
Congregation of the Sisters of Misericorde
The Congregation of the Sisters of Misericorde were a Catholic women's order founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1848....
is described by the Catholic Encyclopedia
Catholic Encyclopedia
The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia and the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in the United States. The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index...
:
"In receiving patients no discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
is made in regard to religion, colour, or nationality. After their convalescence, those who desire to remain in the home are placed under a special sister and are known as "Daughters of St. Margaret". They follow a certain rule of life but contract no religious obligations. Should they desire to remain in the convent, after a period of probation, they are allowed to become Magdalens and eventually make the vows of the Magdalen order. The congregation celebrated its fiftieth anniversary 16 January 1898."
Conditions
Asylum records show that in the early history of the Magdalene movement, many women entered and left the institutions of their own accord, sometimes repeatedly. Lu Ann De Cunzo wrote in her book, Reform, Respite, Ritual: An Archaeology of Institutions; The Magdalene Society of PhiladelphiaMagdalen Society of Philadelphia
The Magdalen Society of Philadelphia was a private charitable organization founded in 1800 to redeem prostitutes and other "fallen" women. This was the first association in the United States that sought to rescue and reform wayward women. A number of local clergymen and citizens affiliated with...
, 1800-1850, that the women in Philadelphia's asylum "sought a refuge and a respite from disease, the prison or almshouse
Almshouse
Almshouses are charitable housing provided to enable people to live in a particular community...
, unhappy family situations, abusive men and dire economic circumstances." Though some may have taken refuge in the institutions, the asylum environment hosted behaviour considered , to constitute physical, psychological, sexual and emotional abuse. Many women felt they needed the support of the institutions to survive, since the sisters strove to make them feel that the reasons for their refuge were their own fault.
According to Finnegan, because many had a background as prostitutes, inmate
Incarceration
Incarceration is the detention of a person in prison, typically as punishment for a crime .People are most commonly incarcerated upon suspicion or conviction of committing a crime, and different jurisdictions have differing laws governing the function of incarceration within a larger system of...
s (who were called "children") were regarded as "in need of penitence," and until the 1970s they were required to address all staff members as "mother" regardless of age. To enforce order and maintain a monastic atmosphere, the inmates were required to observe strict silence
Silence
Silence is the relative or total lack of audible sound. By analogy, the word silence may also refer to any absence of communication, even in media other than speech....
for much of the day, while corporal punishment
Corporal punishment
Corporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable...
was common, and passive-aggression was ignored.
As the phenomenon became more widespread, it extended beyond prostitution to unmarried mother
Single parent
Single parent is a term that is mostly used to suggest that one parent has most of the day to day responsibilities in the raising of the child or children, which would categorize them as the dominant caregiver...
s, mentally retarded women, and abused girls
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
. Even young girls who were considered too promiscuous and flirtatious, or too beautiful, were sent to an asylum by their respective families. This paralleled the practice in state-run asylums in Britain and Ireland in the same period, where many people with alleged "social dysfunction" were committed to asylums. The women were typically admitted to these institutions at the request of family members (mostly men). Without a family member on the outside who would vouch for them, many incarcerated individuals would stay in the asylums for the rest of their lives, many of them taking religious vows.
Given Ireland's (Northern Protestant and Southern Catholic) historically conservative sexual values, Magdalene asylums were a generally accepted social institution until well into the second half of the 20th century. They disappeared with the changes in sexual mores—or, as Finnegan suggests, as they ceased to be profitable: "Possibly the advent of the washing machine
Washing machine
A washing machine is a machine designed to wash laundry, such as clothing, towels and sheets...
has been as instrumental in closing these laundries as have changing attitudes."
Public scandal
The existence of the Irish asylums was not well known until, in 1993, an order of nuns in Dublin sold part of their convent to a real-estate developer. The remains of 155 inmates who had been buried in unmarked graves on the property were exhumed and, except for one, cremated and reburied in a mass grave in Glasnevin CemeteryGlasnevin Cemetery
Glasnevin Cemetery , officially known as Prospect Cemetery, is the largest non-denominational cemetery in Ireland with an estimated 1.5 million burials...
. This triggered a public scandal and became local and national news. In 1999, Mary Norris
Mary Norris
Mary Norris, the eldest of eight children, was born in 1932 in Sneem, South Kerry, Ireland. She was sent to a Magdalene laundry or asylum run by the Good Shepherd Order in Cork, Ireland, in 1949 at the age of 16. She spent two years there. The laundry closed down in 1994.Mary was removed from her...
, Josephine McCarthy and Mary-Jo McDonagh, all asylum inmates, gave accounts of their treatment. The 1997 Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
documentary Sex in a Cold Climate interviewed former inmates of Magdalene Asylums who testified to continued sexual
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
, psychological
Psychological abuse
Psychological abuse, also referred to as emotional abuse or mental abuse, is a form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another to behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder...
and physical abuse
Physical abuse
Physical abuse is abuse involving contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, injury, or other physical suffering or bodily harm.-Forms of physical abuse:*Striking*Punching*Belting*Pushing, pulling*Slapping*Whipping*Striking with an object...
while being isolated from the outside world for an indefinite amount of time. Allegations about the convents' conditions and the treatment of the Irish asylums' inmates were made into the award-winning 2002 film The Magdalene Sisters
The Magdalene Sisters
The Magdalene Sisters is a 2002 film written and directed by Peter Mullan about teenage girls who were sent to Magdalene Asylums, otherwise known as the 'Magdalene Laundries': homes for women who were labeled as "fallen" by their families or society...
, written and directed by Peter Mullan
Peter Mullan
Peter Mullan is a Scottish actor and film-maker who has been appearing in films since 1990.-Early life:Mullan, the sixth of eight children, was born in Peterhead in the northeast of Scotland, the son of Patricia, a nurse, and Charles Mullan, a lab technician who worked at Glasgow University. He...
.
In June 2011, Mary Raftery
Mary Raftery
Mary Raftery is an Irish filmmaker and writer.Her film States of fear was broadcast on the Irish television channel Raidió Teilifís Éireann in 1999....
wrote in the Irish Times
The Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...
that in the early 1940s, some Irish state institutions, such as the Army
Irish Army
The Irish Army, officially named simply the Army is the main branch of the Defence Forces of Ireland. Approximately 8,500 men and women serve in the Irish Army, divided into three infantry Brigades...
, switched from commercial laundries to "institutional laundries" (Magdalene laundries). At the time, there was concern in the Dáil that workers in commercial laundries were losing jobs because of the switch to institutional laundries. Oscar Traynor
Oscar Traynor
Oscar Traynor was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and revolutionary. He served in a number of Cabinet positions, most notably as the country's longest-serving Minister for Defence....
, then Minister for Defence
Minister for Defence (Ireland)
The Minister for Defence is the senior minister at the Department of Defence in the Government of Ireland. Under new arrangements this department is being merged with the Department of Justice over which Mr. Shatter will also preside....
, said that the contracts with the Magdalene laundries “contain a fair wages clause”, which is odd because the women in those laundries did not receive wages.
Shortly afterwards, the Irish Times revealed that a ledger listed Áras an Uachtaráin
Áras an Uachtaráin
Áras an Uachtaráin , formerly the Viceregal Lodge, is the official residence of the President of Ireland. It is located in the Phoenix Park on the northside of Dublin.-Origins:...
, Guinness
Guinness
Guinness is a popular Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is directly descended from the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost...
, Clerys
Clerys
Clerys is a long-established department store on O'Connell Street in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, a focal point of the street, and of the city....
, the Gaiety Theatre, Dr Steevens' Hospital
Dr Steevens' Hospital
Dr Steevens' Hospital in Dublin was one of Ireland's most distinguished eighteenth-century medical establishments...
, the Bank of Ireland
Bank of Ireland
The Bank of Ireland is a commercial bank operation in Ireland, which is one of the 'Big Four' in both parts of the island.Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, the Bank occupies a unique position in Irish banking history...
, the Department of Defence
Department of Defence (Ireland)
The Department of Defence is the department of the Government of Ireland that is responsible for preserving peace and security in Ireland and abroad...
, the Departments of Agriculture and Fisheries, CIÉ
CIE
-Organizations:* Cambridge International Examinations, an international examination board* Cleveland Institute of Electronics, a private technical and engineering educational institution — the International Commission on Illumination...
, Portmarnock Golf Club
Portmarnock Golf Club
Portmarnock Golf Club was established in 1894, and lies just North of Dublin, in Portmarnock, Fingal, Ireland. The course was laid out by William Pickeman on land owned by the distiller John Jameson, and originally consisted of just 9 holes, with another nine being added two years later.Portmarnock...
, Clontarf Golf Club and several leading hotels amongst those who used a Magdalene laundry. This was unearthed by Steven O' Riordan a young Irish filmmaker who Directed and Produced a documentary on the subject of the Magdalene Laundries called "The Forgotten Maggies". The Forgotten Maggies is the only Irish made Documentary on the subject matter and was originally launched at The Galway Film Feladh 2009. It was also screened on TG4, an Irish television station in 2011, where it had in excess of 360, 000 viewers. It is also noted on the documentary's website that a group called Magdalene Survivors Together was set up after the release of the documentary. This was due to the fact that so many Magdalene women came forward as a result of its airing. The women who appeared in the documentary were the first ever Magdalene women to meet with government officials in Ireland. The women helped to bring national and international attention back to the subject matter.
Inquiry into child abuse
In May 2009, the Commission to Inquire into Child AbuseCommission to Inquire into Child Abuse
The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse is one of a range of measures introduced by the Irish Government to investigate the extent and effects of abuse on children from 1936 onwards. It is commonly known in Ireland as the Ryan Commission , after its chair, Justice Seán Ryan...
released a 2000-page report recording claims from hundreds of Irish residents that they were physically, sexually, or emotionally abused as children between the 1930s and the 1990s in a network of state-administered and church-run residential schools meant to care for the poor, the vulnerable, and the unwanted. The alleged abuse was by nuns, priests and non-clerical staff and helpers. The allegations of abuse cover many Catholic (Magdalene), Protestant (Bethany) and State-run Irish Industrial schools.
The Commission stated:
Since 2001, the Irish government has acknowledged that women in the Magdalene laundries were abuse victims. However, the Irish government has resisted calls for investigation and proposals for compensation; the government maintains that the laundries were privately run, therefore abuses at the laundries are outside of the government's remit. In contrast to these claims, evidence exists that Irish courts routinely sent women convicted of petty crimes to the laundries, the government awarded lucrative contracts to the laundries without any insistence on protection and fair treatment of its workers, and Irish state employees helped to keep laundry facilities stocked with workers by bringing women to the laundries and returning escaped workers.
Notwithstanding the investigations instigated by the government in the Republic of Ireland, similar investigations have still to be instigated in Northern Ireland and worldwide, in general.
International law
Having lobbied the Irish government (but not the British Government nor the Northern Ireland Administration) for two years to fully investigate the Magdalene laundries (ignoring the Bethany grouping), an advocacy group, Justice for Magdalenes, presented their case to the United Nations Committee Against TortureUnited Nations Convention Against Torture
The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment is an international human rights instrument, under the review of the United Nations, that aims to prevent torture around the world....
. Justice for Magdalenes allege that the conditions within the Magdalene laundries and the exploitation of their laborers amount to human-rights violations and will present the case in front of the The U.N. Committee Against Torture. On June 6, 2011, the panel urged Ireland to "investigate allegations that for decades women and girls sent to work in Catholic laundries were tortured."
Legacy
- The Magdalene SistersThe Magdalene SistersThe Magdalene Sisters is a 2002 film written and directed by Peter Mullan about teenage girls who were sent to Magdalene Asylums, otherwise known as the 'Magdalene Laundries': homes for women who were labeled as "fallen" by their families or society...
is a 2002 film written and directed by Peter MullanPeter MullanPeter Mullan is a Scottish actor and film-maker who has been appearing in films since 1990.-Early life:Mullan, the sixth of eight children, was born in Peterhead in the northeast of Scotland, the son of Patricia, a nurse, and Charles Mullan, a lab technician who worked at Glasgow University. He...
. - Sex in a Cold Climate is a 1998 documentary directed by Steve Humphries.Interlocking interviews of 4 women interred in various Magdalene asylums and/or orphanages because of out-of-wedlock pregnancies, being sexually assaulted, or just being "too pretty".
- "From a Distance" Charity single in aid of the Magdalene women, Features artists such as Sined O' Connor, Daniel O' Donnell, Brian Kennedy, Moya Brennan, Charile Landsborough, Tommy Fleming among others. Written by Julie Gold.
- "The Forgotten Maggies" Directed and Producer by Steven O' Riordan2009. The only Irish made documentary on the subject matter, which looks at the human rights aspects of the subject. It has over 5 magdalene women contributing and has evidence of State involvement.
- http://undpress.nd.edu/book/P01180Ireland's Magdalene Laundries and the Nation's Architecture of Containment, was written by Professor James M. SmithJames M. SmithJohn M. Smith was an American lawyer and politician from New York.-Life:...
, Associate Professor, English Department, Boston College. Winner of the 2007 Donald Murphy Prize for a Distinguished First Book from the American Conference for Irish Studies - Eclipsed, a play about the Magdalene Laundries, was written by Patricia Burke-Brogan in the 1980s. Burke-Brogan had worked in the laundries in the 1960s. Eclipsed was first performed in 1992.
- A play about the laundries, The Magdalen Whitewash, was written by Valerie Goodwin and performed by the Coolmine Drama group at the Draíocht Arts Centre in Dublin, in 2002.
- Rachel Dilworth's The Wild Rose Asylum: Poems of the Magdalen Laundries of Ireland, the 2008 winner of the Akron Poetry PrizeAkron Poetry PrizeThe Akron Poetry Prize is an annual contest held by The University of Akron Press. The competition is open to all poets writing in English. The winning poet receives an $1,000 honorarium and publication of his or her book in the Akron Series in Poetry. The final selection is made by a nationally...
, is a collection of poems based on the Magdalene Laundries. - A song called "Magdalene Laundry" written by J Mulhern appears on the 1992 album Sentimental KillerSentimental KillerSentimental Killer is a March 1992 album by Irish jazz singer Mary Coughlan under East West Records, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group which was at the time known as WEA....
by Mary CoughlanMary Coughlan (singer)Mary Coughlan is an Irish jazz and folk singer and actress. She has received great acclamation in her native country, for her emotional and heartfelt jazzy musical renditions.-Background:...
and has the chorus line "Ooh Lord won't you let me wash away the stain". - Joni MitchellJoni MitchellJoni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
has a song about the atrocities committed by the Magdalene Laundries on her 1994 album Turbulent IndigoTurbulent IndigoTurbulent Indigo is the fifteenth album by Joni Mitchell. It was released in 1994, and became one of her most critically acclaimed releases, winning a Grammy Award for Pop Album of the Year....
. She also performs this song with The ChieftainsThe ChieftainsThe Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
on their 1999 album Tears of StoneTears of Stone (album)Tears of Stone is an album by The Chieftains, released in 1999. Each track features a different female guest artist or group, with the exception of Jim Corr of the Corrs and Jimmy and John of The Rankins...
. Emmylou HarrisEmmylou HarrisEmmylou Harris is an American singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including...
covers the song on the multi-artist album "A Tribute to Joni MitchellA Tribute to Joni MitchellA Tribute To Joni Mitchell is a tribute to Joni Mitchell featuring Sufjan Stevens, Björk, Caetano Veloso, Brad Mehldau, Cassandra Wilson, Prince, Sarah McLachlan, Annie Lennox, Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello, k.d. lang and James Taylor.-Track listing:...
". - The Mars VoltaThe Mars VoltaThe Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
has a track titled "Asilos Magdalena" on their 2006 album AmputechtureAmputechture-Notes:#"Vicarious Atonement" is the theory that the atonement of Jesus Christ was legal in God's eyes and that Jesus died in the place of the humans that sinned....
. - "The Magadalen Martyrs" is a 2003 story written by Ken BruenKen BruenKen Bruen is an Irish writer of hard-boiled and noir crime fiction.He was born in Galway, and educated at Gormanston College, County Meath and later at Trinity College Dublin, where he earned a Ph.D. in metaphysics. He spent twenty-five years as an English teacher in Africa, Japan, S.E. Asia and...
. In the third episode in his Jack Taylor series, Jack Taylor is given a mission: "Find the Angel of the Magdalene", who is actually a devil incarnate, nicknamed Lucifer, a woman who "helped" the unfortunates, the martyrs, incarcerated in the infamous laundry. - Frances BlackFrances BlackFrances Black is an award-winning Irish singer. A pure vocal tone and an energetic stage presence has made Black one of Ireland’s most popular singers...
has a song "Magdalen Laundry" on her album How High The Moon (2003). - Kathy's Story by Kathy O'Beirne alleges she suffered physical and sexual abuse in a Magdalene laundry in Ireland.
- Kathy's Real Story a book by journalist Hermann KellyHermann KellyHermann Kelly is a Derry-born, Donegal-raised journalist who writes for the Irish Mail on Sunday and is a former editor of The Irish Catholic...
, published by Prefect Press alleges that O'Beirne's allegations are false. - In the Shadow of Eden is an award-winning short memoir by Rachael Romero. Using vintage footage and photos of what led up to her incarceration in the Convent of the Good Shepherd (Magdalene) Laundries in South Australia, Romero outlines her experience there.
- For The Love of My Mother by JP Rodgers tells the story of one Irish mother. Born into a life of poverty and detained at the age of two for begging in the streets, Bridget Rodgers proceeded to spend the next 30 years of her life locked away in one institution or another, namely the infamous Magdalen Laundries.
- IrishIrish peopleThe Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
singer-songwriterSinger-songwriterSinger-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Sinéad O'ConnorSinéad O'ConnorSinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U"....
spent time in a Magdalene Asylum as a teenager.
See also
- Bethany HomeBethany HomeBethany Home was a residential home in Dublin for women of the Protestant faith, convicted of petty theft, prostitution, infanticide, as well as for women who were pregnant out of wedlock, and the children of these women...
- Involuntary servitudeInvoluntary servitudeInvoluntary servitude is a United States legal and constitutional term for a person laboring against that person's will to benefit another, under some form of coercion other than the worker's financial needs...
- Magdalene Society of Philadelphia
- Stolen generations
- Tranquility BayTranquility BayTranquility Bay was a residential treatment facility affiliated with World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools , that operated from 1997 to early 2009. It was located in Calabash Bay, Saint Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica....
- Ulster Magdalene AsylumUlster Magdalene AsylumUlster Magdalene Asylum was founded in 1839 on Donegall Pass, Belfast, by the Church of Ireland, like other Magdalene Asylum it catered for fallen women. It was founded as part of the St Mary Magdalene Parish and was to provide an asylum for penitent females with chapel attached and named the...
- Unfree labourUnfree labourUnfree labour includes all forms of slavery as well as all other related institutions .-Payment for unfree labour:If payment occurs, it may be in one or more of the following forms:...
- WorkhouseWorkhouseIn England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
External links
- Justice for Magdalenes, advocacy group for survivors of Magdalene Laundries (Ireland)
- The Magdalene Laundry. CBS News, August 3, 2003. (Note: The date given in this article for the mass grave discovery is incorrect.)
- Review of Academic study of prostitution reform
- In God's Name.
- Magdalene laundry Wikinfo article (detailed, subjective article on the abuses)
- Last Days of a Laundry
- In the Shadow of Eden -- NOTE: this applies only to Australian laundries
- In the Shadow of Eden excerpt
- Magdalene Laundry Testimony -- NOTE: this applies only to Australian laundries
- Page for survivors of the Magdalene Laundries -- NOTE: this applies only to Australian laundries
- "Report Details Abuses in Irish Church-Run Reformatories" article by Sharon Otterman in The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
May 20, 2009 - Website by daughter of Magdalene survivor Website by Irish-US adopted daughter of Irish Magdalene survivor
- Report of the Child Abuse Commission HTML
- Report of the Child Abuse Commission PDF