This article is from page 16 of the 2013-02-12 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
THE stories of three Clare girls who were sent to Magdalene Laundries in the late 1940s have been recorded as part of the McAleese report into State involvement in the laundry system, released last week.
These records, which were on the file in the archive of Clare County Council, show that the local authority, and many other regional authorities in Ireland, were part of a system of referring girls and young women into Magalene Laundries.
A Clare County Council spokesperson confirm that, up until the enactment of the 1970 Health Act, Clare County Council had some responsibility for the provision of health services in the county. This process ended with the establishment of the Regional Health Boards, which were later replaced by the HSE.
The Clare County Archive includes records from the Clare Board of Health and Public Assistance from 1915 to 1966, as well as records on the operation of the County Home and County Hospital.
There were no records in the Clare archive of girls or women who gave birth outside of marriage being referred to laundries. However, there were a number of reports of “boarded-out children” or foster children, being referred to laundries in the 1940s and 50s.
In those times, financial help to foster parents came to an end when the child turned 15.
“[There was a] frequent refusal of foster parents to provide a home for the children after the age of 15 unless the board continues to maintain them. Recently a girl of 15 was returned to the County Home by her foster parents when payments for maintenance ceased. Nothing is gained by rearing children in foster homes if they are returned to the County Home at the age of 15,” the report says.
Three Clare girls are mentioned in the report – although they are not named. The first was ordered to the Good Shephard Convent in Limerick on December 20, 1947. Records indicate that she was 17-years-old and her mother was alive at the time of admission.
She remained in the Magdalene Laundry for slightly less than two years, before she “went to a situation” or a job.
A second similar case was recorded in 1949 when the 17-year-old girl was also sent to the Good Shepherd Convent in Limerick. There was “no account of parents” for this girl who remained in the Magdalene Laundry for just over five years, at which point she went to the Magdalene Sisters in Belfast.
A third case identified in the records of Clare County Council occurred in 1950. This case involved a 16year-old-girl who was ordered to the Good Shepherd Convent on June 19, 1950. There was no record of parents for this girl, who spent almost three months at the Magdalene Laundry, before she “went to a convent”.