Magdalen Laundry in Ireland, c. early 20th century

Magdalen Asylums were institutions for so-called "fallen" women, most of them operated by different orders of the Roman Catholic Church. In most asylums, the inmates were required to undertake hard physical labour such as laundry work. In Ireland, such asylums were known as Magdalen Laundries. It has been estimated that 30,000 women were admitted during the 150-year history of these institutions, often against their will. The last Magdalen Asylum in Ireland closed on September 25, 1996. Unidentified Magdalen Laundry in Ireland, c. ... Unidentified Magdalen Laundry in Ireland, c. ... The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic Church (see terminology below) is the Christian Church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, currently Pope Benedict XVI. It traces its origins to the original Christian community founded by Jesus Christ and led by the Twelve Apostles, in particular Saint Peter. ... September 25 is the 268th day of the year (269th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...

History

Magdalen Asylums grew out of the rescue movement in Britain and Ireland in the 19th century, which had as its formal goal the rehabilitation of women who had worked as prostitutes. In Ireland, the institutions were named for St. Mary Magdalene, who according to Catholic tradition, repented her sins and became one of Jesus' closest followers. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Whore redirects here. ... Mary Magdalene is described, both in the canonical New Testament and in the New Testament apocrypha, as a devoted disciple of Jesus. ... This article is about sin in the context of morality. ... This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. ...

The Magdalen movement in Ireland was quickly appropriated by the Catholic Church, and the homes, which were initially intended to be merely short-term refuges, increasingly turned into long-term institutions. Penitents were required to work, primarily in laundries. Man and woman washing linen in a brook, from William Henry Pynes Microcosm, 1806. ...

As the Magdalen movement became increasingly distant from the original ideas of the Rescue Movement, that is, to take prostitutes off the streets who would not find regular employment because of their background, the Asylums took on an increasingly prison-like character. Supervising nuns were instructed to enact strong measures that would discourage women from leaving and instead encourage them into penance. The Congregation of the Sisters of Misericordiae, for example, is described by the Catholic Encyclopedia thus: Nun in cloister, 1930; photograph by Doris Ulmann A nun is a woman who has taken special vows committing her to a religious life. ... Penance (via Old French penance from the Latin Poenitentia, the same root as penitence, which in English means repentance, the desire to be forgiven, see contrition; in many languages only one single word is derived) is, strictly, repentance of sins as well as the actual name of the Catholic Sacrament... The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in 1913 by The Encyclopedia Press. ...

In receiving patients no discrimination is made in regard to religion, colour, or nationality. After their convalescence, those who desire to remain in the home are placed under a special sister and are known as "Daughters of St. Margaret". They follow a certain rule of life but contract no religious obligations. Should they desire to remain in the convent, after a period of probation, they are allowed to become Magdalens and eventually take the vows of the Magdalen order. Several Saints Margaret exist: Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque Saint Margaret of Cortona Saint Margaret of England Saint Margaret of Scotland Saint Margaret the Virgin Saint Margaret the Widow See also Margaret Sainte-Marguerite This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share...

Asylum records show that in the early history of the Magdalen movement, many women entered and left the institutions on their own accord, sometimes repeatedly. Lu Ann De Cunzo wrote in her book, Reform, Respite, Ritual: An Archaeology of Institutions; The Magdalen Society of Philadelphia, 1800-1850 (published in Historical Archeology, the journal of the Society for Historical Archaeology), that the women in Philadelphia's Protestant asylum, "sought a refuge and a respite from disease, the prison or almshouse, unhappy family situations, abusive men and dire economic circumstances." Nickname: City of Brotherly Love, Philly, the Quaker City Motto: Philadelphia maneto (Let brotherly love continue) Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States State Pennsylvania County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Mayor John F. Street (D) Area    - City 369. ... // ON MAY 5 1853 MR.FADER HAD SEX WITH A MAN NAME MR WIEN THEN THEY HAD SON NAMEDMRS COTURE AND MR MANOOGIAN WENT INTO MRS HASKELLS OFFICE NAKED AND DANCED AROUND AND MASTERBATED ON HER CHEST AND SHE LICKED IT OFF THEN THEY HAD ORAL SEEX WITH NAPLOEAN OF... 1850 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The Almshouse at Sherborne, Dorset The Almshouse at Woburn, Bedfordshire West Hackney Almshouses in Stoke Newington, London. ...

Because of their background as prostitutes, inmates were regarded as in need of penitence:

"The woman who has never known the pollution of a single wicked thought - the woman whose virgin bosom has never been crossed by the shadow of a thought of sin! - the woman breathing purity, innocence and grace, receives the woman whose breath is the pestilence of hell!" [Catriona Clear, Nuns in Nineteenth-Century Ireland, p.153; cited from Finnegan, p.20]

Inmates were required until the 1970s to address all staff regardless of age, as "mother", and were called "children". As one priest wrote in 1931: "It may be only a white-veiled novice with no vows as yet; and it may be an old white-haired penitent giving back to God but the dregs of a life spent in sin. It matters not. In the Home of the Good Shepherd the one is ever the 'Mother' while the other is always the 'Child'." [Finnegan, p.42] This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... For other uses, see Child (disambiguation). ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ...

To enforce order and maintain a monastic atmosphere, the inmates were required to observe strict silence for much of the day. "The Rule of Silence was a major feature of the women's lives and continues well into the second half of the twentieth century." [Finnegan, p. 24] Corporal punishment was common, and passive-aggression was simply ignored: Silence is a relative or total lack of sound. ... Corporal punishment is the deliberate infliction of pain intended to correct behavior or to punish. ... Passive-aggressive personality disorder is a personality disorder wherein a person tends to display a pattern of negative attitudes and passive resistance in interpersonal or occupational situations. ...

"A sullen temper, often shown by refusing food, is best dealt with by silence. When a girl wakes up to the fact that no one takes any notice, nor is troubled (apparently at least) by her self-starvation, she gets weary of her self-imposed martyrdom and learns sense." [Arthur J. S. Maddison, Hints on Rescue Work, A Handbook for Missionaries and Superintendants of Homes (1898); cited from Finnegan, p.31]

As the phenomenon became more widespread, it extended beyond prostitution, to unmarried mothers, developmentally-challenged women and abused girls. Even young girls who were considered too promiscuous and flirtatious were sometimes sent to an asylum. This paralleled the practice in state-run asylums in Britain and Ireland in the same period, where many people with alleged "social dysfunction" were committed to asylums. A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt or to achieve a goal such as a policy change. ... 1898 (MDCCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... A single parent is a parent with one or more children, who is not living with the child[ren]s other parent. ... The term learning disability is used to refer to socio-biological conditions that affect a persons communicative capacities and potential to learn. ... Child abuse is the physical or psychological maltreatment of a child by an adult, often synonymous with the term child maltreatment or the term child abuse and neglect. ...

The women were typically admitted to these institutions at the request of family members or priests. Without a family member on the outside who would vouch for them, some penitents would stay in the asylums for the rest of their lives, many of them taking religious vows.

Magdalen Laundry in England, early 20th century

Given Ireland's conservative sexual values, Magdalen Asylums were a generally accepted social institution until well into the second half of the 20th century. They disappeared with the changes in sexual mores - or, as some say, as they ceased to be profitable. "Possibly the advent of the washing machine has been as instrumental in closing these laundries as have changing attitudes," according to Frances Finnegan. Magdalen Laundry in England, early 20th century. ... Magdalen Laundry in England, early 20th century. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... Front-loading washing machine. ...

The sending of wayward women to Magdalen Asylums was an example of what many feminists regard as the phenomenon in which even suspected sexual misconduct by women is punished more harshly than sexual misconduct by men. Feminism is a collection of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies largely motivated by or concerned with the liberation of women. ...

Revelation

The existence of the asylums was little thought of until, in 1993, an order of nuns in Dublin sold part of their convent to a real estate developer. The remains of 155 inmates, who had been buried in unmarked graves on the property, were exhumed and, except for one body, cremated and reburied in a mass grave in Glasnevin Cemetery. This triggered a public scandal and became local and national news. In 1999 Mary Norris, Josephine McCarthy and Mary-Jo McDonagh, all asylum inmates, gave accounts of their treatment. The 1998 Channel 4 documentary Sex in a Cold Climate interviewed former inmates of Magdalen Asylums who testified to continued sexual, psychological and physical abuse while being isolated from the outside world for an indefinite amount of time. The conditions of the convents and the treatment of the inmates was shown in the acclaimed film The Magdalene Sisters (2002), written and directed by Peter Mullan. 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53. ... Glasnevin Cemetery, also known as Prospect Cemetery, is the main Catholic cemetery in Dublin, the capital of Ireland. ... A scandal is a widely publicized incident involving allegations of wrong-doing, disgrace, or moral outrage. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Mary Norris (aged 70 in 2003) was forced to enter a Magdalene laundry run by the Good Shepherd Order in Cork, Ireland in 1949 at the age of 16. ... Josephine McCarthy was sent to a Magdalene laundry because she had been accused of sexual activity in a cars back seat. ... Mary-Jo McDonagh spent five years in a Magdalene institution in Galway after a neighbour molested her. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Channel Four Television Corporation. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Psychological abuse refers to the humiliation or intimidation of another person, but is also used to refer to the long-term effects of emotional shock. ... Physical abuse is abuse involving contact intended to cause pain, injury, or other physical suffering or harm. ... This article is about motion pictures. ... The Magdalene Sisters is a 2002 film about women sent to Magdalen Asylums, otherwise known as the Magdalen Laundries, because of they were deemed to have done some sexual wrong. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... Peter Mullan (born in 1959 in Peterhead, Scotland) is a Scottish actor who has been appearing in films since 1990. ...

Similar instances of abuse have been reported in Ireland's industrial schools. As a group these institutions were exposed in an RTÉ (state run Irish television) series by reporter Mary Raftery in 1999. Despite the Irish government convening of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, attempts to obtain compensation for the victims of the system have proven frustrating. [1] [2] Essentially, to be eligible for compensation, a victim must have been resident in one of a number of specifically listed institutions; no Magdalene Laundries are included on this list. Our Lady of Succour, Newtownforbes St. ... Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ; Irish for Radio and Television of Ireland) is the national publicly-funded broadcaster of Ireland. ... The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse is one of a range of measures introduced by the Irish Government to address the effects of abuse in childhood on the victims. ...

Legacy

• "Eclipsed", a play about the Magdalene Laundries, was written by Patricia Burke-Brogan in the 1980s. Burke-Brogan had worked in the laundries in the 1960's. "Eclipsed" was first performed in 1992.

• A play about the laundries was written by Valerie Goodwin and performed by the Coolmine Drama group at the Draíocht Arts Centre in Dublin, in 2002. [3]

• Joni Mitchell has a song about the atrocities committed by the Magdalene Laundries on her album Turbulent Indigo.

• The Mars Volta has a track titled "Asilos Magdalena" on their 2006 album Amputechture.

• The Magdalene Sisters is a 2002 film written and directed by Peter Mullan.

• "The Magadalen Martyrs" is a 2003 story written by Ken Bruen. In the third episode in his Jack Taylor series. Jack Taylor _ not much of a detective, and a mess of a human being _ is given a mission : find the Angel of the Magdalen" _ actually a Devil incarnate, nicknamed Lucifer, a woman who "helped" the unfortunates, the martyrs, incarcerated in the infamous laundry.

Joni Mitchell, CC (born Roberta Joan Anderson on November 7, 1943) is a noted Canadian musician, songwriter, and painter. ... Turbulent Indigo is the 1994 album from Joni Mitchell album and one of the most successful of her, winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. ... The Mars Volta is an American rock group founded by Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. ... Amputechture is the third full length studio album by The Mars Volta released on September 12, 2006. ... The Magdalene Sisters is a 2002 film about women sent to Magdalen Asylums, otherwise known as the Magdalen Laundries, because of they were deemed to have done some sexual wrong. ... Peter Mullan (born in 1959 in Peterhead, Scotland) is a Scottish actor who has been appearing in films since 1990. ... Ken Bruen is an Irish writer of hard-boiled and noir crime fiction. ...

See also

• Scandals in the Roman Catholic Church
• Canadian residential school system
• Stolen Generation
• Unfree labour
• Involuntary servitude
• Tranquility Bay

This is a list of scandals in the Roman Catholic Church: Magadalene Sisters Asylum Scandal The fathering of a son by Bishop Eamon Casey Mount Cashel Orphanage, in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada Categories: Scandals | Roman Catholic Church history | Lists ... St. ... The Stolen Generation is a term used to describe the Australian Aboriginal children, usually of mixed descent, who were removed from their families by Australian government agencies and church missions, under various state acts of parliament, denying the rights of parents and making all Aboriginal children wards of the state... Unfree labour is a generic or collective term for those work relations, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will by the threat of destitution, detention, violence (including death), or other extreme hardship to themselves, or to members of their families. ... Involuntary servitude is the condition of a person laboring to benefit another against his will due to coercive influence directed toward him. ... Tranquility Bay a facility, operated on the island nation of Jamaica. ...

References

• Finnegan, Frances (2001). Do Penance or Perish: A Study of Magdalen Asylums in Ireland. Piltown, Co. Kilkenny: Congrave Press. ISBN 0-9540921-0-4. 
• Raftery, Mary; and Eoin O'Sullivan (1999). Suffer the Little Children: The Inside Story of Ireland's Industrial Schools. Dublin: New Island. ISBN 1-874597-83-9. 

External links

• The Justice for Magdalenes Committee
• Adjunct site to the Justice for Magdalenes Committee
• The Magdalene Laundry. CBS News, August 3, 2003. (Note: The date given in this article for the mass grave discovery is incorrect.)
• Review of Academic study of prostitution reform
• Sinners at the Internet Movie Database
• The Magdalene Sisters at the Internet Movie Database
• The Magdalen Sisters Controversy
• Summary on-line.
• Magdalene laundry Wikinfo article (detailed, highly subjective article on the abuses)
• Catholic Encyclopedia articles
• The Magdalene Sisters, What We Can Learn