Cultural historian Clair Wills reflects on the secret cousin born in Bessborough Mother and Baby Home, which at one point had a morality rate of 75% – and her family’s complicity in a national tragedy.
The welfare state was designed around male financial responsibility for their families.
Stephen Dorey|Alamy
In the 1940s, Britain’s nascent welfare state was designed around male financial responsibility for their families – unmarried mothers were intentionally disregarded.
In the 20th century Magdalene laundries were punitive institutions where young “fallen” women – pregnant and unmarried – endured a daily regime of silence, prayer and hard labour. The last Magdalene laundry closed in 1996.
William Murphy/lFlickr
The conservative Catholic moral code that underpinned adoption in Ireland penalised vulnerable women and their children. Now a proposed new law seeks to redress the impact of this legacy of shame.
A makeshift memorial to the children buried at the Tuam mother and baby home, whose identification in 2013 led to the mother and baby homes inquiry.
Niall Carson/PA
Most of those incarcerated in mid-20th century Ireland were held in psychiatric hospitals, which have kept their secrets until today. This must change.