Mother and Baby Homes
What is the “Christian” Response?
(From the April - June 2021 issue of VOX)
The final report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes in Ireland was published in January 2021. Soon afterwards, Ulster University and Queen’s University jointly released a study of Mother and Baby Homes and Magdalene Laundries in Northern Ireland commissioned by the Inter Departmental Working Group on Mother and Baby Homes, Magdalene Laundries and Historical Clerical Child Abuse. Taken together, the two reports chart the treatment of women, particularly unmarried mothers and their children, on the island of Ireland between the 1920s and the 1990s. They make for distressing reading.
Already drained by a year of lockdowns and restrictions, the public reaction, while understandably angry, seemed muted. An initial flurry of comment and opinion in the media has now subsided. For many it seems this chapter is now closed.
Others have scrambled to distance themselves from the reports. Criticism has been levelled at the Catholic Church and the State (and by some at families and the wider society) without an acknowledgement that all major Christian denominations across the island were implicated. Shifting blame or denying responsibility has taken precedence over acknowledgement, repentance and reparation.
Have we become inured to the history of past wrongs on this island? Are we suffering compassion fatigue or simply worn out by the seemingly unending revelations of abuse, especially by those who supposedly represent the faith we hold dear? In this issue of VOX magazine, we take a deeper look at the implications for Christians in Ireland and how these reports affect our witness today.
Wading through pages of dispassionate narrative is a daunting task. So here we begin with a summary of the key findings. What did the reports say?
Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes in Ireland
The Commission considered a number of Mother and Baby homes in Ireland including county homes run by local health authorities, those run by the Catholic church (mainly by religious orders) and the Bethany Home run by a Protestant evangelical group.
56,000 women and 57,000 children were resident in the homes investigated. While Ireland was not unique, the proportion of unmarried mothers admitted to Mother and Baby Homes in 20th century Ireland was probably the highest in the world. 80% of the women were aged between 18 and 29; 11.4% were under 18. The women had become pregnant outside of marriage and most were destitute. The report noted that some had been raped, had mental health problems or had an intellectual disability. Although it concluded that women were not forced to enter the homes, it also states that they had no alternative.
“Women who gave birth outside marriage were subject to particularly harsh treatment.”
According to the Commission, the primary mission of Mother and Baby Homes was “reform and repentance”. Many women suffered emotional abuse and were subject to denigration and derogatory remarks. “It appears that there was little kindness shown to them and this was particularly the case when they were giving birth.” It was in an era when, “all women [in Ireland] suffered serious discrimination” but “women who gave birth outside marriage were subject to particularly harsh treatment.”
Living conditions varied from home to home although overcrowding was a feature in many. County homes were “appalling” with unmarried mothers having to squat on the floor to eat their meals. Many did not have adequate heating or running water. The conditions in Glenmaddy/Tuam and Kilrush were described as “dire”. Homes run by religious orders were institutional with large dormitories but at least had heating and running water.
High Infant Mortality
“Entering a mother and baby home significantly reduced a baby’s chance of survival.”
Nine thousand babies died in the homes and the report points to the exceptionally high infant mortality rate (almost twice the national average) as the most disquieting feature of these institutions. While the death rate among illegitimate children was always considerably higher than that of legitimate children, it was higher still in mother and baby homes. Entering a mother and baby home significantly reduced a baby’s chance of survival. By 1939, an inspector was already expressing concern at the high rate of infant mortality. In 1943, three out of every four children born in Bessborough and 62% of those born in Bethany Home died.
The Commission pointed to the lack of professional staff combined with “what must be acknowledged as a general indifference to the fate of the children who were born in mother and baby homes” as contributing to the appalling levels of infant mortality and cited Bethany Home as an example:
“In October 1936, the Bethany matron informed the management committee that five infants had died in the previous month; four from heart failure. She went on to observe that the health of all was good except for one delicate baby.”
Many homes did not keep adequate death records or a register of burials. Babies in several homes were buried in unmarked graves and in the case of Tuam, they were buried “inappropriately” on the grounds of the home. Babies died from a variety of causes including infectious diseases and marasmus (malnutrition).
What happened to the children?
While some unmarried mothers returned home with their babies, for many this simply wasn’t an option. Before legal adoption was introduced in the 1950s, children were often boarded out to foster families with little concern for the needs of the child. Foster payments provided additional income for impoverished households and older children were a source of unpaid labour. Although some foster families took good care of the children, in other placements they were exploited, badly fed, kept out of school and hired out for employment.
In the 1950s and 1960s, adoption became the most common outcome. A significant percentage of children were also sent to other institutions such as children’s homes especially from Bethany Home. The question of consent for adoptions has been raised by a number of survivors. The Commission reported “no evidence” that consent was not given freely despite what it describes as the “inadequate” resources of the Adoption Board to supervise adoption agencies or examine consent during its first 15 years of operation. Many survivors dispute this finding.
Mother and Baby Homes and Magdalene Laundries in Northern Ireland
“There was “a culture of stigma, shame and secrecy attached to unmarried mothers” in Northern Ireland.”
The report of research by Ulster University and Queen’s found that there was “a culture of stigma, shame and secrecy attached to unmarried mothers” in Northern Ireland. It is estimated that between 1922 and 1990 over 10,500 women entered mother and baby homes run by Catholic religious orders and by various Protestant groups and denominations including the Church of Ireland and Salvation Army. Most who entered the homes had limited alternatives.
The youngest recorded admission was a 12 year-old girl and the oldest a 44-year-old woman. The majority of women were aged between 20 and 29 (58%). Another 33% were under 19 years of age. It is evident that Protestant and Catholic voluntary organisations and in particular clergy were actively involved in referring women to the homes.
Women often entered a mother and baby home when they were not in a position to marry. In religiously segregated Northern Ireland, religious differences were a common cause of opposition to a marriage. In other cases, the young age of a pregnant girl meant that marriage was not an option. A number of young women entered mother and baby homes as the result of a sexual crime including incest, rape or “unlawful carnal knowledge”.
“Most described the attitudes of staff as unsympathetic and sometimes cruel.”
There were numerous testimonies recounting experiences that involved cleaning, polishing floors and domestic laundering, with no concession for women in their final trimester of pregnancy. Most described the attitudes of staff as unsympathetic and sometimes cruel. Women provided vivid accounts of being made to feel ashamed about their pregnancy and suggested that the atmosphere was authoritarian and judgemental. A minority of testimonies offered a more positive assessment of life in the mother and baby homes.
The testimonies also reveal the vulnerability, particularly of the younger women and girls including details of predatory sexual behaviour and/ or malicious actions that they experienced.
What happened to the children?
The length of stay for women and children in Northern Irish Mother and Baby Homes was shorter than in the Republic. Around a quarter of babies left with their mother while a third were placed in institutional homes. A further 23% were recorded as adopted, with another 15% listed as going to foster parents.
Data assembled from the available records suggests that 4% of babies were either stillborn or died shortly after birth (across the entire period) but more detailed research would be needed to identify infant mortality rates because so many children were transferred to institutions. It is clear that death rates in some of the children’s homes were extremely high.
A number of women raised concern about the way adoptions were handled with “consent” being given in circumstances where they were given little or no alternative. There was also evidence of considerable cross-border movement of children, especially to Catholic-run children’s homes in Donegal.
So what is our response?
In the upcoming articles, you will find responses from Kevin Hargaden and Richard Carson along with “What Now?” - an opportunity for you and your church to explore practical actions.
