I used to live near a Magdalene Launderette in Cork (no name needed).


I was non believer of ghosts till I heard blood curdling screams from the direction of the convent.

I knew an old lady, who had put her daughter in one and never seen any one break down like she did.


Her daughter told of the beatings, mental torture and torment the nuns dished out. Some women were forced to eat from the toilets or floors.

I don't know much Mother & child homes but the article is similar to the horrid laundries.

The Launderette's all should of been demolished rather that converted in to flats and hotels.



www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/the_girls_of_bessborough

A horrible reminder of a horrible past...workhouses here had their moments...people are an asset,best looked after.

These institutions were run by the Catholic church - under the direction of the Vatican.

When questioned about them - during his visit to Ireland last year - Pope Francis amazingly said he knew nothing about them!

Probably not his fault - but these stories will run and run. Together with the others relating to this organisation's paedophile history.


Now acknowledged and accepted by Francis.

However, the conclusions of the January Summit in Rome - regarding child abuse by clergy - are still awaited.

Terrible that should have been going on. I had no idea these places still existed into the 1980s. The article doesn't seem to say when they were closed.

Jo wrote:
Terrible that should have been going on. I had no idea these places still existed into the 1980s. The article doesn't seem to say when they were closed.

Like so many things in Ireland, the Catholic church swept unsavoury/unholy matters like this under the carpet fo generations.

Until relatively recently, the Catholic church had a privileged place in the Republic of Ireland's written Constitution.

And this essentially allowed it to run the nation's religious affairs - and much of its cultural, political, educational and medical organisations.

Paedophile clergy have seriously damaged the power of the Church - and a lot less people attend services these days.

However - despite abortion being made legal recently in Ireland, after a referendum - not all hospitals will carry out the procedure, which contravenes Catholic teaching.


Denial of all wrongdoing was the usual Catholic response: Francis, at least, has put that right.

But, despite the Irish people opting for abortion and divorce, the Catholic church remains vehemently opposed to both.

Last surviving Magdalene Launderette closed circa 1996.

Magdalene Sisters - is a great film but what I was told, the nuns in the film are too polite.

Also there books and memoirs and a few are just made up for a quick buck.

Maybe worth buying www.amazon.co.uk/Haunting-Cries-Stories-...agadaline&sr=8-5

Structures where atrocities took place can also act as important reminders of the horrors. Some examples are the Aushwitz-Birkenau museum, the Kaiser Wilhem Memorial Church in Berlin and the Genbaku Dome in Hiroshima. There is a saying (apparently attributed to George Santayana): "Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it".

A fair, thoughtful and valid post, md.

Ireland is a new country - about 100 years independent - and it has many monuments to those lost in the Famine, and other tragic times.

But no acknowledgement or monument yet exists - to the thousands of children abused by Catholic clergy.

It would be perverse not to record it somewhere. Few perpitrators were ever brought to justice.

So far, only verbal apologies have been offered - by Pope Francis and others.


Your idea of dedicating a building - where the abuse/maltreatment took place - is an excellent one.

I may well write to the Irish Times with the suggestion.