Mother and baby homes abuse crossed denominations in Northern Ireland – report

A co-chair of the Truth Recovery Independent Panel said culpability for wrongdoing against women “goes right across the religious spectrum”.

On Tuesday, the panel published its findings on Magdalene Laundries and mother and baby homes that were run by the Catholic Church, religious orders, some Protestant denominations, and the State, until the 1990s.

The report, that heard from some 300 victims, found reports of “human rights abuses, degrading treatment, and forced separation of families” in the institutions.

More than 12,000 women in Northern Ireland are estimated to have been admitted to mother and baby homes and over 3,700 to Magdalene Laundries.

Roisin McGlone, who was admitted to a Magdalene Laundry at just 14 years old, was one of three survivors on the 10-person independent panel.

Ms McGlone said most people “don’t understand that there were a lot more Protestant organisations that were involved with these institutions, than there were Catholic”.

“I think the Catholic institutions have rightfully come under scrutiny, but I think that our report shows that there were lots of Protestant institutions as well, and young Protestant women were going into those,” she said.

Maria Cogley, who was born in a Magdalene Laundry in Belfast and adopted when she was less than two weeks old, was also a panel member.

She said: “The records tell us across communities in Northern Ireland, particularly in the Protestant communities – where support and acknowledgement appears to be lacking and the undeserved shame is still unspoken – that this was not just a Catholic issue in the North.

“This impacted every denomination and community, and that must be acknowledged widely.

“Even though my own experience began in a Catholic institution, it has been hugely important to me and the panel throughout this process that the need for accountability and an equal weighting of responsibility be also heaped on to the numerous Protestant institutions and other denominations and communities who should all be held accountable for their actions.

“This includes, of course, the state.”

Co-chair of the panel Professor Leanne McCormick explained: “While the Catholic Church was involved in running, for example, the three what we call Magdalene Laundries, St Mary’s Homes by the Good Shepherd Sisters, also the Salvation Army operated Thorndale Industrial Home, which was an institution that was on very similar lines to the Magdalene Laundries although women and girls would have stayed there for shorter periods of time.

“But in terms of mother and baby institutions, there are a number of the institutions that were again run by Protestant churches, Protestant organisations, and also there are several state-run institutions as well, and also then those that are run by the Catholic Church, religious orders, and religious organisations as well.

“So really, culpability in terms of those who are running these institutions goes right across the religious spectrum and includes the state as well, and of course we make very clear recommendations about the lack of effective state oversight of these institutions.”