Genealogy Chat

Asking this question on behalf of a friend; are there any records kept of the poor souls who had to work in the Magdalen Laundries??

Is that the Irish one where all the unmarried mothers were sent????Irene

I have emailed you direct.

If you google Magdalen Laundries there are a few sites that come up and details of a book you can purchase about the Laundry. Regards Irene

there is an article about this in the current issue of She magazine. Its about a woman who actually lived and worked in one of the laundries (from the age of 8) It sounds awful, and to think this was all so recent too

The Magdalene Sisters who were the sisters of Charity or the Sisters of Mercy ran the Magdalene laundries using what can only be described as Slave labour. Not all the Women were unmarried mothers who had to give up their babies to Orphanages and Industrial Schools, but those females in these Catholic run Institutions would be sent to the Laundries when they become teenagers to keep the continuation of the workforce. The film 'Magadalene Sisters' went someway in showing some of the terrible injustices and cruelty suffered by women in Ireland, but there are Survivors groups and other groups set up to help and support and investigate some of what happened to the women and children. The Irish Government has set up a redress board which according to the website states:- 'The Redress Board was set up under the Residential Institutions Redress Act, 2002 to make fair and reasonable awards to persons who, as children, were abused while resident in industrial schools, reformatories and other institutions subject to state regulation or inspection'. I have sent the websites to you privately as they won't work properly on here, if anyone else wants them I shall send the websites to you too. Good luck if there is anything else I can help with please do not hesitate to ask. Pat x PS I am sorry I have just realised I didn't answer your question about records being kept, there should be records but they are kept normally by the religious order that the person lived with and where they lived. The records are very difficult to get and you must prove somehow you are the person that lived there. You can send me a private email and I will try and help further, with the small things I have learnt.

Thanks everyone who replied.

Bumped for Michelle Smith Old Crone