IN the late 1960s a child arrived at Pelletstown mother and baby home in Navan Road, Dublin, on the recommendation of a paediatrician. The child had been placed for adoption but was being returned . A note said the child s adoptive mother was reluctant to keep baby. she considers him retarded. Admit to St Patrick s Home .
Two years later the child was declared of average intelligence and well suited to adoption or boarding . A letter from a Pelletstown medical officer to the Adoption Board said his initial backwardness was due to environmental conditions .
The final report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes documents the shameful treatment of mothers and their children born out of wedlock.
Southern Editor
The experiences described by former residents of mother-and-baby homes who gave evidence to the Commission of Investigation are set out in the commission s report, largely in their own words.
A woman, described in the report as Resident A at Bessborough, left Ireland and travelled to London after she became pregnant in the early 1960s at the age of 18.
In London, a priest put her in touch with the Crusade of Rescue and arrangements were made for her to return to Ireland.
She felt she should have stayed in England, as she would have been able to keep her baby there. She was met at Cork Harbour by a car and a driver who brought her to Bessborough. She had never been to Cork before and knew nobody there.