‘ ... the proportion of Irish unmarried mothers who were in mother and baby homes was the highest in the world. In 1967 the number of babies who were adopted in Ireland was equal to 97% of the ‘illegitimate’ births; this was the highest in the world.’ #motherandbabyhomes

‘Large numbers of Irish women continued to give birth in mother and baby homes in the 1970s, though by that time most mother and baby homes in other countries had closed.’

According to the report the last #motherandbabyhomes closed in 1998.

‘Few single women had the financial resources to raise a child without the support of their family or the father of their child ... Few Irish men contributed to the maintenance of their ‘illegitimate’ child or acknowledged their existence’. #motherandbabyhomes

‘There are many contemporary accounts throughout this report of Irish parents who were willing to welcome their daughter back into the family home following the birth but were not prepared to accept her child’ #motherandbabyhomes

‘The Catholic church did not invent Irish attitudes to prudent marriages or family respectability; however, it reinforced them through church teachings that emphasised the importance of pre-marital purity and the sexual dangers ...’ #mothersonbond