This article is from page 17 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 17 JPG
CLARE women were amongst the most likely in Ireland to find themselves in the care of a Magdalene Laundry, according to figures released as part of the McAleese Report published last week.
The report has identified, but not named, 261 different Clare women who each spent various lengths of time in a Magdalene Asylum or Laundry. This means that Clare had the fifth highest number of women in Magdalene facilities in the State. Only counties with much larger populations such as Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Tipperary had more women in Magdalene Laundries than Clare.
Indeed, the number of Clare women to have spent time in Magdalene Laundries is likely to be much higher than those presented in the report, as no details of any Clare facilities are mentioned in its findings.
This is despite claims by a large number of local people that a laundry operated in Ennis for many years during the 1940s and 1950s.
The vast majority of Clare women referred to in the report attended the Limerick City Magdalene Asylum. This facility was opened by the Good Shepherd Nuns in 1848 and contin- ued in operation until 1984. While entrants into this facility peaked on the 1930s, there was still a considerable number of girls and women being admitted to the facility in the 1970 and 1980s.
Indeed, according to the McAleese Report, a total of six women were admitted to this facility in 1981 – the last years than any new intake of women was recorded.
Members of the Magdalene Sur- vivors Together met with Taoiseach Enda Kenny (FG) and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore (Lab) yesterday to discuss the McAleese Report.
Both the Justice for Magdalenes advocacy group and the London-based Irish Women’s Survivors’ Network decline to attend the meeting.
The groups are anxious that they receive an opology from the State over abuses which took place in the laundries.