Establishment of ‘Mother and Baby Homes’ (Institutions)
‘Mother and Baby Homes’ were established in the newly independent Irish Free State. Over the course of the 20th century, more than 180 institutions, agencies and personnel, which included Mother and Baby Homes and County Homes were involved in the regime of separating unmarried mothers from their children. These institutions formed part of a wider network of discriminatory and abusive institutions that detained women and children, which included Magdalene Laundries and Industrial and Reformatory Schools.
Closure of ‘County Homes’ (Institutions)
Ireland’s County Home Institutions were closed in 1960.
Closure of Magdalene Laundries
The last Magdalene Laundry institution closed in 1996
Closure of Mother and Baby Homes
After 76 years in operation, the last Mother and Baby Institution was closed.
Justice for Magdalenes (JFM) & Adoption Rights Alliance (ARA) campaigns established
- From 2003 and prior to the establishment of the CLANN Project in 2015, allied advocacy groups were already actively campaigning for justice for those affected by institutional abuse. The Irish government had also established numerous of commissions of inquiries into historical abuses, which had excluded those detained in Mother and Baby Institutions, County Homes and those impacted by the regime of enforced family separation.
- In 2003, survivors of Magdalene Laundry Institutions established Justice for Magdalenes(JFM) to advocate for a state apology and a compensation schemes for survivors. The Irish Government undertook its heavily criticised the McAleese inquiry, completed in 2013, resulting in a state apology and a redress scheme. Justice for Magdalene Research (JFMR) continues to campaign for transitional justice for survivors, having engaged the support of national and international human right bodies.
- In 2009, the Government published the Ryan Report following its Commission of Inquiry into Child Abuse (CICA) (2000-2009), which examined the abuse that had taken place in former institutions, focusing on Industrial and Reformatory schools. It excluded survivors of Magdalene Laundry institutions and Mother and Baby Institutions from its inquiry and redress.
- In 2009 Adoption Rights Alliance (ARA) was established in 2009 to advocate for equal human and civil rights for those affected by Ireland’s closed secret adoption system.
United Nations Committee against Torture and the Magdalene Laundries
Prior to the formation of CLANN, JFMR engaged the UN regarding the Government’s response to historic institutional abuse relating to the Magdalene Laundry Institutions. In 2011 and again in 2013, the United Nations Committee Against (UNCAT) called out the Irish Government and the Magdalene Laundries McAleese Inquiry of 2011-2013, for its failure to uphold the human rights of survivors of Magdalene Laundries, as obligated by the Convention against Torture, in terms of its investigation of historical abuse in addition to its redress scheme. In 2011, and again in 2013, UNCAT recommended that Ireland conduct prompt, independent and thorough investigations into allegations of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and/or punishment in Magdalene Laundries; in appropriate cases prosecute perpetrators; and ensure all victims obtain redress in line with their enforceable right to compensation.
Discovery of a mass grave at a former Mother and Baby Institution in Tuam
In 2012, research by local amateur historian, Catherine Corless found that 796 babies had been secretly buried in an unmarked mass grave on the site of the former Tuam Mother and Baby Home in the West of Ireland.
It was not until 2014, that this discovery reached wider national and international attention and led to public outcry.
- June 2018 PodcastThe Home Babies – Catherine Corless and the Tuam Mother and Baby Home.BBC Radio 4
20 January 2024 You Tube video Ireland’s Pandora’s Box – Tuam Mother and Baby Home: Catherine Corless
LLM Researchers for Clann 