Irish prime minister Micheal Martin on Wednesday formally apologised for the treatment of unmarried women and their babies in state and church-run homes, where thousands of children died over decades.
Allison Morris
THE shame for the appalling neglect of women and children in Ireland’s mother and baby homes lies squarely with the Catholic Church, who not only owned the homes but created a society where single mothers were deemed sinners to be locked away.
The report found Ireland locked away more single mothers than any other country in the world.
The average mortality rate for babies born in the cold industrial style institutions was 15 per cent.
However, in the 1940s only 40 per cent of the children born there lived to see their first birthday.
The report also found that as well as victims of rape, some women had mental health problems, while some had an intellectual disability.
Report outlines abuses at Irish mother-and-baby homes
A long-awaited report reveals decades of appalling conditions at Catholic maternity homes in Ireland. Thousands of infants died at the church-run facilities for unwed mothers, which were finally closed in 1998.
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); We did not live up to our Christianity : Bon Secours apologises for Tuam mother and baby home
Historian Catherine Corless said she is grateful for the “honest” statement. By Orla Dwyer Wednesday 13 Jan 2021, 11:18 AM Jan 13th 2021, 11:18 AM 27,563 Views 102 Comments
File image of author John Pascal Rodgers at a grotto on the grounds of the unmarked mass grave in Tuam, Co Galway.
Image: Laura Hutton
File image of author John Pascal Rodgers at a grotto on the grounds of the unmarked mass grave in Tuam, Co Galway.
Image: Laura Hutton
THE SISTERS OF Bon Secours has said it “failed to respect the inherent dignity” of the women and children in the Tuam mother and baby home following the publication of a landmark report yesterday.