By Elliott West
Introduction
As a Catholic, faith is very important to me but I am fully aware that this ancient religion has many skeletons in its closet. One scandal that stains the church’s reputation were the Magdalen washhouses in Ireland, a network of so-called religious establishments where abuse was rife, violent acts rife and the iron rod never soared. Hidden behind a veil of correction for those who had chosen the crooked path of vice, fallen women, lay people of the clergy, priests and nuns whose souls were tainted by the devil, inflicting heinous acts on the residents.
The House of Pain
“You didn’t know when the next beating was going to come”.
Mary Smith
Described as asylums, laundries or warehouses, these institutions were brutal where enforced silence, constant surveillance, severe and emotional abuse and deprivation of educational opportunity were a culture. This was abuse that lasted decades from the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922 until the last laundry closed in 1996. At least 300,000 went through this vile system and 10,000 since 1922. Girls and women were imprisoned in these glorified prisons and forced to carry out unpaid laundry, needlework and back-breaking cleaning chores. They were run for profit and after 1922, the Magdalene Laundries were operated by four religious orders (The Sisters of Mercy, The Sisters of Our Lady of Charity, the Sisters of Charity, and the Good Shepherd Sisters). These were situated in 10 different locations around Ireland.
These laundries were populated by women who were perceived to be promiscuous unmarried mothers, the daughters of unmarried mothers, those who were considered a burden on their families or the State, those who had been sexually abused or had grown up in the care of the Church and State. These victims became institutionalised, so much so that they were unable to return to everyday society. These women were kept in locked rooms with barred windows, grounds that high walls and broken glass cemented to the apex. Completely cut off from the outside world, they weren’t even given a release date. The imprisoned had their hair cut, their clothes taken away and given a uniform. Having to swear a vow of silence, friends were not allowed and family visits were denied or strictly monitored by the nuns.
Forced to work from morning to evening, the work came from local businesses and the public and if anyone refused to work, the punishments were extreme. These included deprivation of food, flogging, kneeling for long periods of time, sleeping in the cold and shaving women’s heads. Many thought they would die in there and those few that were released were dumped on the street without their own clothes and with no money. A terrible existence that was regulated and endorsed by the Irish state. This was slave labour, manual work without pay, entering voluntarily with a promise of building a new life but shackled to the brutal system when the door slammed shut behind them. You weren’t even referred to by your name, merely a number or as a child or penitent.
The Survivors
Marina Gambold was put in a laundry by her local priest and recalls how when she broke a cup, was forced to eat off the floor, given only bread and dripping to eat, sleeping out in the cold and fighting starvation. Others describe how they were forced to surrender their babies which were either given to other families or mysteriously disappeared. One horrific discovery occurred at the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, where the remains of at least 796 dead babies were found in a septic tank in the yard.
When the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity decided to sell some of the land in 1992, they applied to exhume 133 bodies from unmarked graves. However, 155 bodies were found and there were only 75 death certificates. The nuns explained that there had been an administrative error and all the remains were cremated and put in a mass grave. This opened the floodgates for many of the victims to come forward and reveal their experiences.
It wasn’t until the full story of this horror was revealed that the Irish President formally apologised and opened a compensation fund yet the Irish Catholic church still remained silent. The last of these laundries didn’t close its doors until 1996, the Gloucester Street Laundry. A place that was home to 40 women. Many were elderly with disabilities and nine had no relatives and decided to stay with the nuns. A place that left you psychologically damaged for the rest of your life.
