She was one of the 243 inmates of the Good Shepherd Laundry, in Limerick, who had been buried in an unmarked grave. The laundries got their name from Mary Magdalene, the fallen woman who became one of Jesus' closest followers.
From the front, the former Good Shepherd Convent in Cork looks like an exclusive private school. At the back of the convent, you can still see the skeleton of the washhouse, one of dozens of Magdalene institutions scattered across the countryside. The Magdalene institution was surrounded by 20-foot brick walls, topped with shards of broken glass that were mortared into the concrete.
As it turns out, the women had been virtual prisoners, confined behind convent walls for perceived sins of the flesh (in the beginning), and sentenced to a life of servitude in something called the Magdalene laundries. Eventually, girls could be sent to the institution by different people – parish priests, Catholic curates, family members and sometimes even the girls themselves. Some were kept there against their will for years. Their numbers were made up by unmarried mothers and their daughters, women and girls who had been sexually abused, women with mental or physical disabilities who were unable to live independently, and young girls who had grown up under the care of the church and the state. Although some people knew the laundries existed, what went on behind the convent walls was largely a mystery.
They were given new names by the nuns, who said it was to help them break from their pasts. No one knows how many women were sent off to the laundries. The religious orders refuse to make those records available, but estimates range into the tens of thousands.
They were watched 24 hours a day. And the chances of being claimed was slim, too. In some cases, inquiring family members were told that the church had found their missing relatives in other cities, and with new names, they could be difficult to locate.
It sounds like something that happened hundreds of years ago, but, in fact, the last Magdalene laundry closed in 1996. When the last laundries finally closed, most of the Magdalenes had nowhere to go. Many of them now reside in group homes and convents around the country. For example, a convent in Dublin still holds some women now being cared for by the same nuns who once confined them.
One of the former inmates petitioned the sisters of the Good Shepherd in Cork, to at least list the names of the Magdalenes who had been buried in unmarked graves behind the laundry. The nuns complied and there were eleven plaques that were erected in this cemetery, in remembrance of the 243 known women who perished without any recognition.
Pease note: The Magdalene Laundries (aka Magdalene Asylums) were institutions from the 18th to the late 20th centuries, that operated throughout Europe and North America. The youngest girl to have been admitted was 9 years old while the oldest woman was 89. Nearly 900 women died while working in the laundries, the youngest of whom was 15 years old.
From the front, the former Good Shepherd Convent in Cork looks like an exclusive private school. At the back of the convent, you can still see the skeleton of the washhouse, one of dozens of Magdalene institutions scattered across the countryside. The Magdalene institution was surrounded by 20-foot brick walls, topped with shards of broken glass that were mortared into the concrete.
As it turns out, the women had been virtual prisoners, confined behind convent walls for perceived sins of the flesh (in the beginning), and sentenced to a life of servitude in something called the Magdalene laundries. Eventually, girls could be sent to the institution by different people – parish priests, Catholic curates, family members and sometimes even the girls themselves. Some were kept there against their will for years. Their numbers were made up by unmarried mothers and their daughters, women and girls who had been sexually abused, women with mental or physical disabilities who were unable to live independently, and young girls who had grown up under the care of the church and the state. Although some people knew the laundries existed, what went on behind the convent walls was largely a mystery.
They were given new names by the nuns, who said it was to help them break from their pasts. No one knows how many women were sent off to the laundries. The religious orders refuse to make those records available, but estimates range into the tens of thousands.
They were watched 24 hours a day. And the chances of being claimed was slim, too. In some cases, inquiring family members were told that the church had found their missing relatives in other cities, and with new names, they could be difficult to locate.
It sounds like something that happened hundreds of years ago, but, in fact, the last Magdalene laundry closed in 1996. When the last laundries finally closed, most of the Magdalenes had nowhere to go. Many of them now reside in group homes and convents around the country. For example, a convent in Dublin still holds some women now being cared for by the same nuns who once confined them.
One of the former inmates petitioned the sisters of the Good Shepherd in Cork, to at least list the names of the Magdalenes who had been buried in unmarked graves behind the laundry. The nuns complied and there were eleven plaques that were erected in this cemetery, in remembrance of the 243 known women who perished without any recognition.
Pease note: The Magdalene Laundries (aka Magdalene Asylums) were institutions from the 18th to the late 20th centuries, that operated throughout Europe and North America. The youngest girl to have been admitted was 9 years old while the oldest woman was 89. Nearly 900 women died while working in the laundries, the youngest of whom was 15 years old.
She was one of the 243 inmates of the Good Shepherd Laundry, in Limerick, who had been buried in an unmarked grave. The laundries got their name from Mary Magdalene, the fallen woman who became one of Jesus' closest followers.
From the front, the former Good Shepherd Convent in Cork looks like an exclusive private school. At the back of the convent, you can still see the skeleton of the washhouse, one of dozens of Magdalene institutions scattered across the countryside. The Magdalene institution was surrounded by 20-foot brick walls, topped with shards of broken glass that were mortared into the concrete.
As it turns out, the women had been virtual prisoners, confined behind convent walls for perceived sins of the flesh (in the beginning), and sentenced to a life of servitude in something called the Magdalene laundries. Eventually, girls could be sent to the institution by different people – parish priests, Catholic curates, family members and sometimes even the girls themselves. Some were kept there against their will for years. Their numbers were made up by unmarried mothers and their daughters, women and girls who had been sexually abused, women with mental or physical disabilities who were unable to live independently, and young girls who had grown up under the care of the church and the state. Although some people knew the laundries existed, what went on behind the convent walls was largely a mystery.
They were given new names by the nuns, who said it was to help them break from their pasts. No one knows how many women were sent off to the laundries. The religious orders refuse to make those records available, but estimates range into the tens of thousands.
They were watched 24 hours a day. And the chances of being claimed was slim, too. In some cases, inquiring family members were told that the church had found their missing relatives in other cities, and with new names, they could be difficult to locate.
It sounds like something that happened hundreds of years ago, but, in fact, the last Magdalene laundry closed in 1996. When the last laundries finally closed, most of the Magdalenes had nowhere to go. Many of them now reside in group homes and convents around the country. For example, a convent in Dublin still holds some women now being cared for by the same nuns who once confined them.
One of the former inmates petitioned the sisters of the Good Shepherd in Cork, to at least list the names of the Magdalenes who had been buried in unmarked graves behind the laundry. The nuns complied and there were eleven plaques that were erected in this cemetery, in remembrance of the 243 known women who perished without any recognition.
Pease note: The Magdalene Laundries (aka Magdalene Asylums) were institutions from the 18th to the late 20th centuries, that operated throughout Europe and North America. The youngest girl to have been admitted was 9 years old while the oldest woman was 89. Nearly 900 women died while working in the laundries, the youngest of whom was 15 years old.
From the front, the former Good Shepherd Convent in Cork looks like an exclusive private school. At the back of the convent, you can still see the skeleton of the washhouse, one of dozens of Magdalene institutions scattered across the countryside. The Magdalene institution was surrounded by 20-foot brick walls, topped with shards of broken glass that were mortared into the concrete.
As it turns out, the women had been virtual prisoners, confined behind convent walls for perceived sins of the flesh (in the beginning), and sentenced to a life of servitude in something called the Magdalene laundries. Eventually, girls could be sent to the institution by different people – parish priests, Catholic curates, family members and sometimes even the girls themselves. Some were kept there against their will for years. Their numbers were made up by unmarried mothers and their daughters, women and girls who had been sexually abused, women with mental or physical disabilities who were unable to live independently, and young girls who had grown up under the care of the church and the state. Although some people knew the laundries existed, what went on behind the convent walls was largely a mystery.
They were given new names by the nuns, who said it was to help them break from their pasts. No one knows how many women were sent off to the laundries. The religious orders refuse to make those records available, but estimates range into the tens of thousands.
They were watched 24 hours a day. And the chances of being claimed was slim, too. In some cases, inquiring family members were told that the church had found their missing relatives in other cities, and with new names, they could be difficult to locate.
It sounds like something that happened hundreds of years ago, but, in fact, the last Magdalene laundry closed in 1996. When the last laundries finally closed, most of the Magdalenes had nowhere to go. Many of them now reside in group homes and convents around the country. For example, a convent in Dublin still holds some women now being cared for by the same nuns who once confined them.
One of the former inmates petitioned the sisters of the Good Shepherd in Cork, to at least list the names of the Magdalenes who had been buried in unmarked graves behind the laundry. The nuns complied and there were eleven plaques that were erected in this cemetery, in remembrance of the 243 known women who perished without any recognition.
Pease note: The Magdalene Laundries (aka Magdalene Asylums) were institutions from the 18th to the late 20th centuries, that operated throughout Europe and North America. The youngest girl to have been admitted was 9 years old while the oldest woman was 89. Nearly 900 women died while working in the laundries, the youngest of whom was 15 years old.
Gravesite Details
Note: Her name is located on Memorial Number 9
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
