Not sure how many of you have heard of the Magdelene Asylums in Ireland, where thousands of women were imprisoned and worked till they died, abused etc by the Catholic Church.
The last one closed in 1997, and it's about a 10 minute drive from my house.
I had to go there today, as it's now still a convent / adoption society and as I was adopted myself, I was tracing records. Wasn't delighted about going there! But thought, common girl, you'll be grand, it's probably nothing like it was!
OMG! I drive in the big black gate, HUGE stone walls (built to stop the girls from escaping) and park the car, and there's this BIG MAD porch and huge heavy door, old knocker, stained glass windows of Jesus being crucified. It gets worse. I rapped the door and this fucking NUN answers it (I'm used to nuns, been around them all my life and I'm normally grand with them) but God, for a nun to answer. lol! I go into this MAD old fashioned, high ceiling hallway, fireplace, old wallpaper, crucifixes everywhere, and she locked the door behind me and disappeared off after telling me to wait in this room to the right.
So there I was locked in an old Magdelene laundry ffs! I was creeped out waiting. Kept looking behind me! Haha! Good thing the social worker was a nice non nun.
Aww that place is exactly as it had been! It's wasted as a convent, should be a fucking museum. Ohhhh for anyone who doesn't know about the laundries watch 'The Magdelene Sisters'. ↓
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| Name: winnmom | Date: Oct 18th, 2008 6:18 AM |
| never heard of it....I will have to read on that tomorrow.......... ↑ |
| Name: shelly1 | Date: Oct 18th, 2008 8:54 PM |
I saw the film joeys mum and how you described it was exactly what i imagined it to be like...i would have been freaked out especially when she locked the door lol,it reminded me of a irish book i read recenlty childhood interupted by kathleen o malley run by the sisters of mercy order of nuns who also ran the magadelene homes..
my partner is irish and when we visited family over there they were right opposite a christian brothers school. ↑ |
| Name: lindalu | Date: Oct 18th, 2008 8:56 PM |
New York Times published an article on this subject with the announcement of a movie. I have provided the link below, I know its a long link but the article is very interesting.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/ful
lpage.html?res=9F00EFDA163EF930A3575BC0A9659C8B6
3
↑ |
| Name: Joeys_Mam | Date: Oct 19th, 2008 1:11 PM |
| Shelley, yeah I read that book too a few years back. It was very good. But yeah I knew I'd be fine. lol. But still, I could help thinking, this must have been exactly what it was like for a girl newly arriving, coming in, being locked in and that was her till she died. I've always been intrigued by it, so it was fascinating to be in one of them, especially as they haven't done anything to change the place. ↑ |
| Name: Joeys_Mam | Date: Oct 19th, 2008 1:16 PM |
| That link you read is slightly incorrect. Girls who were sent there weren't just girls who got pregnant outside of marriage. Many girls were sent there after admitting they'd be raped or abused, and a lot of girls were sent there for being 'too pretty'! ↑ |
| Name: Joeys_Mam | Date: Oct 19th, 2008 1:25 PM |
| It was like I was saying to Mark when I got home, if I had been born 20 years earlier, Joey would have been taken off me and put up for adoption, and I'd have been put in a Magdelene laundry. That is SCARY. ↑ |
| Name: shelly1 | Date: Oct 19th, 2008 8:07 PM |
unreal isnt it being sent there for being to preitty.. i didnt know it was an adoption society now ,the film is totally riveting,very sad.
you d think that theyd have tried to change the place a bit wouldnt you to try to get rid of the rep.thank god you were born 20 years later lol.
where are you from in ireland,my partners family are in co tipp.i love it there,its so beautiful and would move there tommorrow if i could.we re in london and god its just concrete city here. ↑ |
| Name: lindalu | Date: Oct 19th, 2008 11:30 PM |
Joeys_Mam,
The info in the link was not slightly incorrect, it was correct. The writer neglected to add molestation or sexual abuse to the list for reason why the girls were sent there. ↑ |
| Name: Joeys_Mam | Date: Oct 20th, 2008 12:15 AM |
| Jesus Lindalu. I'm just making a point. The writer said the reason the girls were sent there was that they were unwed mothers. That's only the case in some women. Thousands of women who were sent there (and I have met 1 of them) were there because they'd said they were assaulted or that they were pretty. So in my opinion, that's incorrect, as people who read that MIGHT think only unwed mothers were sent there. So it's misleading. ↑ |
| Name: Joeys_Mam | Date: Oct 20th, 2008 12:19 AM |
| Shelley, yeah, well most are run down now. I'd love to explore one of them properly. Maybe one will be made into a museum. :) ↑ |
| Name: Joeys_Mam | Date: Oct 20th, 2008 12:27 AM |
| Lindalu, Let me just explain something to you. By saying what I said I was just protecting the identity of these women. I don't want anyone to read that article you sent and think that only unwed mothers were sent there, when that is not true. That article is misleading and therefore I was clearing that part up, cause it's unfair not to give the full story. So in my opinion, that article is damn incorrect and does not give justice to the women in those asylums some of whom were 13 years old children who had never had sex in their lives, never mind had a child. Being from Ireland, this issue is very close to my heart. ↑ |
| Name: Joeys_Mam | Date: Oct 20th, 2008 12:38 AM |
Here is an accurate article, which gives the full story:
http://www.the-arche
r.co.uk/history/magdalene1.htm
↑ |
| Name: Joeys_Mam | Date: Oct 20th, 2008 1:00 AM |
| Anyway Lindalu, I'm not arguing with you over the use of the term 'incorrect'. If you seriously want to debate about that, lol, choose someone without a life. lol ↑ |
| Name: lindalu | Date: Oct 20th, 2008 3:28 AM |
Joeys_Mam.
Come on! Really.... I do think you may want to reread my reply again. For you to suggest that I am inciting an argument/debate is a total misunderstanding on your part . I simply pointed out that the link I posted was not wrong as you stated it was.
I only correct you on your statement that the information in the link was incorrect.
I had no intentions of arguing or debating however it does appear that it is your intentions.
One more things....these ladies and their lives are public knowledge there has been books written as well as movies produced on this very topic. Your the one who felt the need to make a post all about this institution.Doesn't sound like some one trying to protect the identity of these women.
Regardless of what you may think I was not originally casting a war against you, and honestly I'm starting to get tired of you insisting that I'm inciting debates with you all the time. Trust me you will know if I'm debating or arguing with you, there would be no mistaking it. For sake of any further misunderstandings I will make a note not to post in your threads any more. ↑ |
| Name: lindalu | Date: Oct 20th, 2008 3:59 AM |
Take notice in the first paragraph....it doesn't read ONLY unwed pregnant girls. With having cleared that up I am done.
'The Magdalene Sisters,'' by the Scottish director Peter Mullan, which opened Friday, is a fictional rendering of a historical situation that could only take place in a culture of shame. The film follows three young Irish girls who are sent to one of the Magdalene Asylums, institutions run by nuns, primarily in Ireland, to house girls who got pregnant outside of marriage, or who were considered too sexual, too flirtatious or even too attractive. They were incarcerated in these asylums, which doubled as laundries, where they worked, unpaid, seven days a week, 364 days a year, with only Christmas day off.
Often the girls were put there by their families, in arrangements facilitated by the parish priest; if they escaped, they were returned by the police -- a perfect collusion of family, church and state. Some girls spent years there; some a whole life. The laundries were founded in the mid-19th century; the last was closed only in 1996. It is said that 30,000 women passed through their doors. ↑ |
| Name: Joeys_Mam | Date: Oct 20th, 2008 11:07 AM |
So by telling the girls about my experience in a laundry I'm not protecting their identity? How is that? As you say, it's public knowledge already. And you were the one who posted the link originally. And I was only making it clear WHY the girls were there, by filling in gaps in the link you'd sent. There was no need to correct me on that. I felt it was wrong not to give the full story. And I will not be corrected by you for giving my point of view on a subject very close to my heart.
The girls on here already corrected you over your harsh treatment of me over my cat. I noticed you went quiet once the other women told you to back off.
Perhaps it would be best for you to stay out of my posts in future. ↑ |
| Name: lindalu | Date: Oct 20th, 2008 3:30 PM |
Joeys_Mam
Ohh! now its clear, I see...you found fault with me in another post. That's what this is really about.. Also I have not in any thread had any one of the women here correct me as you say for my harsh treatment toward you. If you think other wise then go find the said post and bring forth the proof. I have never exhibited harsh treatment toward you, I have on occasion disagreed with you and even had small debates with you...... not exactly considered harsh treatment. Let me illiterate one more thing if I go silent not replying to derogatory comments left for me its not because of any reason except that I don't see the need to play ring around the rosy with the same issue. So unless this is what you want then how about we both do what I suggested and gracefully stay out of one anothers way. ↑ |
| Name: Joeys_Mam | Date: Oct 20th, 2008 3:48 PM |
| I'll ignore that as it's childish. Please just stay out of my way. Thought you were done anyway. ↑ |
| Name: bmes | Date: Oct 20th, 2008 4:27 PM |
holy cow. well after reading this, i decided to look into it more. i had never heard of it until just now. there are many variations on the internet. some have more details than others....what is true or myth, i wouldn't know. but from what I got, was the main goal of these places had good intentions in the beginning. then....i don't know what happened. seems as though theres some kind of gap. it seemed as though as years went on, it got more corrupt, and they lost their main vision. greed? resentment? or just plain bitches abusing their power, knowing full well, that because of the beliefs and views of their society, these women would never function outside of the convent cause they'd be "shunned" by most? who knows.
what i want to know, is how the main intention was lost.? was it one indivdual who tainted it? or was there NEVER any good intentions with making these laundries?
and i'm guessing the movie is probably very loosely based, and very "hollywood". ↑ |
| Name: Joeys_Mam | Date: Oct 20th, 2008 4:44 PM |
Most people say it's the Catholic church abusing it's power. The women worked all hours for no pay, all their hard earned money went to the Catholic church, who profited nicely.
They were there to be punished. Some for having babies outside of marriage, some for being raped, some for being pretty. But to be punished nonetheless. Their babies were taken from them and put up for adoption, some were even sold, the rest, put in orphanages.
Those who never got out, of which there are thousands, are now buried in mass graves.
The film is actually pretty accurate. ↑ |
| Name: Joeys_Mam | Date: Oct 20th, 2008 4:46 PM |
| The Catholic church ruled Ireland until recently. It was more powerful than the government, which is why these horrible laundries existed. If you watch the film, that is exactly how it was for the Magdalenes ↑ |
| Name: bebe9281 | Date: Oct 20th, 2008 8:56 PM |
| RED RUM RED RUM!!!!! LOLOLOL ↑ |
| Name: cherisalorraine | Date: Oct 20th, 2008 9:59 PM |
| We had to read that book and watch the movie in freshman year English class then we had to do the same with Angelas Ashes. It sounded absolutely terrible to live in your area back then no matter what! I am sorry that you had to go through being in that place I hope that you wont have any lasting memories of it. Was your birth mother in one of those places? ↑ |
| Name: lacirrom | Date: Oct 20th, 2008 10:36 PM |
| yeah thats what i was wondering...was your birth mother in one of those places? and when the babies were born did they stay there until adopted or where they taken some place else? i've never heard of any of these places until just now. ↑ |
| Name: Joeys_Mam | Date: Oct 20th, 2008 11:21 PM |
There were orphanages run by the convent right next to the laundries. The children in the orphanages were mainly children of the Magdalenes, but they were kept seperate from their mothers, never to see each other. The children there were abused just as badly as the Magdalenes were, beaten by the nuns, and sexually abused by the priests in many cases. And female orphans often went straight to the laundries from the orphanage when they were old enough.
When a girl got pregnant outside of marriage, she had no choice but to go to the nuns or she was sent there by her family to give birth to her baby. Having got pregnant outside of marriage, she was disgraced and her family wanted nothing to do with her or the baby in so many cases. There was no social security, nowhere these girls could go, except to the nuns, who promised to take care of mother and baby and put them in a mother and baby unit. When the mother gave birth, sometimes the nuns took the baby from it's mother straight away against her will. Other times they allowed the baby to be breastfed and cared for by it's mother for up to a year before taking the baby and then putting the mother in the laundry.
The babies were either adopted or sold (shockingly) and the rest were kept in the orphanages never to see their mothers again.
I spent 3 months with my mother and then a further 3 months in such an orphanage before being adopted. That is all I know so far. I have to go back there in 2 weeks to find out more. ↑ |
| Name: Joeys_Mam | Date: Oct 20th, 2008 11:25 PM |
| Here is footage of a run down laundry in Cork. This is where I was born. ↑ |
| Name: Joeys_Mam | Date: Oct 20th, 2008 11:25 PM |
Opps. Forgot to add the link
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NbPyvF9fnhg ↑ |
| Name: Joeys_Mam | Date: Oct 20th, 2008 11:28 PM |
| I believe a fire broke out and destroyed this particular laundry ... but ... still the video is quite haunting. ↑ |
| Name: Joeys_Mam | Date: Oct 20th, 2008 11:33 PM |
| Oh! Was my mam in one? I don't know. I have to go back and find out more. From what I know, she willingly gave me away. Or so the papers I originally got from the convent said. So ... I wouldn't have thought so. But who knows? ↑ |
| Name: cherisalorraine | Date: Oct 21st, 2008 2:30 AM |
| If you find that she was in one of those places and may have not known what else to do or that you may have been taken do you think you will still be as angry with her for letting you go to a family that could love and care for you? Not trying to change the subject but I know that you have had some issues with your feelings toward her and I just wonder if her circumstances may change your mind? ↑ |
| Name: Joeys_Mam | Date: Oct 21st, 2008 9:39 AM |
| If I had been taken from her against her will, then maybe yes. But I don't think I was. The social worker dealing with my adoption now (who has my files) told me that my mother had made the decision to give me away, and that by the time I was born, there was social security and she had other options. Certainly the laundries were still running till 1997, but regardless, I think my mother brought me to be adopted when I was 3 months old, and left me there, and went back to her family. She already had a 2 year old son who she was raising so no. I don't think she was in one of them. It's possible. But unlikely. Well, I'm really searching my files for medical information only, and in the process, I'm getting access to my files. Perhaps when I know the whole story my feelings might change, but the more I learn, the less I want anything to do with her. Sadly, I can't help the way I feel in that regard. And to be honest, it's unlikely she wants anything to do with me either. After all, she did sign me away. ↑ |
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