Systematic cruelty of mother and baby homes dates back to 18th century Foundling Hospital children ate stirabout infested with clock beetles and earwigs
about 4 hours ago Audrey Talbot Sean Ross Abbey in Roscrea, Tipperary, a mother and baby home from 1930 to 1970. File photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire
Damning testimonies from anguished women who lived in mother and baby homes are not confined to the last century. After the reformist Lady Arbella Denny took over Dublin’s grim Foundling Hospital in 1759 she witnessed an outpouring of grief from women whose personal stories had remained unknown until then.
Their experiences were detailed in heart-rending and poorly written letters. From farm girls, servants and city women, they describe the now all-too-familiar narrative. The shame of “illegitimacy”, the secrecy and the blame. They begged to know w