‘SURVIVORS LET DOWN AGAIN’
ANALYSIS, CASE STUDIES PLUS MATT COOPER
St Patrick’s Navan Road, Dublin, 1919-1998
The majority of the 18,829 children admitted to St Patrick’s Navan Road were alone at the time of their death.
Originally known as Pelletstown and later operated as Eglinton House, this institution was run by the Daughters of Charity who were employed by the relevant local authority at the time.
A total of 15,382 women and 18,829 children were admitted here between 1919 and 1998, according to commission’s report.
Facilities at Pelletstown were described as ‘inadequate’ with just four lavatories provided for 140 women in 1950. In 1966, women were sleeping in dormitories with 52 and 30 beds respectively that offered no privacy.
A total of 3,615 children died; 78% of deaths occurred between 1920 and 1942, but unlike at many mother and baby homes, the burials of these infants are properly recorded in Glasnevin Cemetery.
Belmont Flatlets, Donnybrook, Dublin, 1980-2001
This was not a traditional mother and baby home but rather a hostel type short-term accommodation for a small number of women and children, about nine or ten at any one time. It was opened by the Daughters of Charity and was financially supported by the Eastern Health Board. The women lived independently, but got support from social workers and public health nurses.
The commission stated: ‘The mothers were there with their babies and left with their babies so the issue of tracing would not have arisen.’
Kilrush Nursery, Co. Clare, 1922-1932
The commission estimates that there were between 300 and 400 unmarried mothers and a much larger number of children in the west Clare facility.
It was run by the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy nuns up to 1928, and afterwards by lay staff, and conditions were described as ‘very poor’, with leaking roofs, no baths, and no inside sanitary accommodation.
The mothers who lived there were also described as neglected, with no proper clothing or comfort of any kind.
The number of child deaths i n this institution, however, is not known, but the medical officer described the death rate in 1927 as ‘appalling’.
Bessborough House, Co. Cork, 1922-1998
The burial sites of the 923 children who died here still remain a mystery, largely due to the failings of local health authorities.
A total of 9,768 women and 8,938 children passed through the institution’s doors, run by the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
One young mother described how she was stripped of her name, belongings and life’s savings when she became a resident.
‘It would have been impossible to leave; all of our things had been confiscated, we had no clothes and no money,’ she said.
‘From time to time we were allowed outside, but were always escorted by nuns... They marched us around like soldiers.’
Sean Ross, Roscrea, Co. Tipperary, 1931-1969
The Sean Ross mother and baby home was among the homes run by the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
Within 38 years, 6,414 women were admitted and 6,079 babies were born there. One such resident was Philomena Lee, whose story was turned into an award-winning film in 2013. During her stay, her son was forcibly taken from her and adopted by US parents in the 1950s.
A total of 1,090 of the 6,079 babies who were born or admitted at Sean Ross had died, but the registers of burials were not maintained. However, there is a burial ground, and the commission has established the remains of some children under the age of one are buried in coffins there.
Castlepollard, Co. Westmeath, 1935-1971
Several women told the commission of investigation that they witnessed nuns leaving the hospital with up to ten dead babies in shoe boxes and bringing them for burial on the grounds nearby.
The burial sites were later marked by the presence of nails i n the wall of a cemetery nearby. The facility was run by the Congregations of the Sacred Heart, and a total of 4,559 babies were born here, but there is no register of burials for the 247 infants who died.
Regina Coeli, North Brunswick Street, Dublin, 1930-1998
A total of 734 children had died at this hostel accommodation with the peak of mortalities occurring in the early 1940s. A 1948 report claimed that infant mortality at the facility was three times the rate in Pelletstown and that the hostel lacked ‘almost every proper facility in regard to both nursing and structure’.
Dunboyne, Co. Meath, 1955-1991
The Dunboyne Mother and Baby home had the highest proportion of women under 18, with minors making up 23.4% of admissions.
Over one in ten admissions to Dunboyne were aged between 12 and 16, which was under the legal age of consent.
There were a total of 3,156 mothers and 1,148 children, with 37 infant mortalities.
Bethany, Dublin city and Rathgar, 1922-1971
This facility was run mainly for Protestant women, and a total of 262 children associated with the Bethany Home in Dublin died. During its 50-year operation in Blackhall Place and later Rathgar, this mother and baby home accommodated 1,584 women and 1,376 children.
The commission found that the decision to no longer admit Catholic women meant that it was less overcrowded than the other mother and baby homes in the 1940s.
Other homes mentioned in the report included: Denny House (formerly the Magdalen Asylum), 1765-1994; Miss Carr’s Flatlets, Dublin, 1972-present; St Gerard’s, Dublin, 1919-1939; Cork County Home, 19211960; Kilkenny County Home, Thomastown, 1922-1960.