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Some shocking findings and conclusions in the Commission’s Report: A thread
“There is no evidence of the sort of gross abuse that occurred in industrial schools.” From my reading, I see abuse in many forms: in terms of neglect to the physical welfare of women & children, abuse of women through mandatory work, not to mention emotional abuse. 2/
“The women worked but they were generally doing the sort of work that they would have done at home”. It later goes on to describe women in M&B Homes saving turf on the bog and cutting timber. Remember most these women were pregnant or were shortly after giving birth. 3/
“In 1954 when plans were being drawn up to remove unmarried mothers and children from the county home, the matron objected that she would be unable to find replacement workers.” 4/
“In Sean Ross & Castlepollard some mothers slept in former Stables.” In another home “mothers and children slept in traditional workhouse dormitories, and the building was at high risk of fire. 5/
Most County Homes continued to lack adequate sanitary facilities, running water, hot water on tap and heating other than open fires until the 1950s. /6
In 1943 three out of every four children born in Bessborough died.
The Commission has identified 200 women who died when they were resident in the homes that were investigated. There was high mortality of women before 1950 from causes that were unrelated to pregnancy, including infectious diseases. 7 women died of typhoid in Sean Ross.
During the day children spent much of their time in a ‘hut’… The mothers of older children could only see their children on Sundays; the administration believed that more frequent visits disrupted the routine and upset the children.
“Although the Department received regular inspection reports which were often critical of conditions, the department preferred to use persuasion, not compulsion to implement improvements.”
Bethany Home described health in the home as ‘excellent’ although it reported the deaths of a number of children.
In 1924, the bishop of Cork, Dr Cohalan, asked the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts to admit pregnant women to Bessborough but they were reluctant to do so. In 1928 he ‘almost insisted’. Maternity services were introduced in 1930.
When the Dept of Health proposed to transform Sean Ross into a home for children with special needs in the 1960s, the bishop of Killaloe rejected the proposal. His intervention resulted in a delay for several years, until the bishop had died, and his successor gave his approval.
Commission “allegations have been made that large sums of money were given to the institutions & agencies that arranged foreign adoptions. Such allegations are impossible to prove & disprove.” It then describes reimbursement of expenses that were sought from adoptive parents.
On donations from adoptive parents in the US, the Commssion reported: “Such donations were not illegal and could not be described as unethical unless the adoptive parents were trying to adopt another child.”
The Commission concluded that there was no evidence of discrimination in relation to decisions made about fostering or adoption of mixed race children or children with disabilities’. I don’t think we can assume that racism did not exist.
The Commission has stated that there is no indication of religious discrimination in relation to funding. – Research by previous historians have argued otherwise.
“It was not until the death of Ann Lovett in 1984 that there is evidence of extensive public commentary on unmarried motherhood & serious questioning of Irish attitudes.” Unmarried mothers had been advocating for the intro of an allowance & removal of illegitimacy since 1972. /1
Unmarried Mothers played a major part of the women’s liberation movement in the 1970s and were successful in gaining the support of my politicians in these efforts at the time. (See the work of Cherish).
“Protestant children were more likely to be sent to institutions than Catholic children”. There is no explanation provided for this statement or why they think this is so.
Commission states: “There is no evidence that the women who gave birth in mother and baby homes were denied pain relief or other medical interventions.” We know from oral history accounts that women requested and were refused pain relief. Personally, I believe survivors.
“It is quite probable that women may have been left without qualified nursing care during the early stages of labour, especially at night. It is unclear whether the religious sisters normally carried out night duty.”
The Commission has identified a total of seven vaccine trials on children in institutions. "There is no evidence of injury to the children involved as a result of the vaccines." How can they conclude this? Did they follow up on the healthcare of each child, even in later life?
The Commission states: “Some of this cohort of women are of the opinion that their consent was not full, free and informed..There is no evidence that this was their view at the time of the adoption. The Commission is satisfied that, at least from the 1970s/1980s, there were /1
adequate procedures in place for ensuring that a mother’s consent was full, free and informed.” We know from personal testimonies that were coerced into signing adoption papers, that many women did not know what they were signing. /2
Some women were forced to sign adoption papers after their baby had been taken. Some women who were illiterate have said that their signatures were forged. I believe these women.
