Ireland’s Legacy of Shame: The Magdalene Laundries

Abstract

Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries operated from 1767 until 1996. Over this 230 year period, over 10,000 women and girls entered these institutions; the Laundries aimed to protect, reform, and rehabilitate but their main focus was controlling women’s sexuality in order to make them morally pure ideal Irish citizens. The Laundries led to a unique relationship between Church and State as the Irish government relied on Catholic religious orders to run the Laundries. The relationship between the Church and State was solidified in 1922 with the formation of the Irish Free State. Catholicism and Irish nationalism became inextricably linked, making the ideal of the sexually and morally pure citizen even more foundational to the State. Although the Laundries’ nuns claimed to treat women with care, female penitents were forced to pray and work for long hours in gruelling silence, often facing harsh verbal and physical punishments. The Laundries' history has long been hidden; a 1993 exhumation at the High Park Laundry was the major event that brought the Magdalene Laundries history to light. A State investigation into the Laundries’ in 2013 was a major turning point as it led to a State apology and redress for survivors. Despite the emerging discussion of the Laundries and the abuse that occured within their walls, their history is still shrouded by shame and stigma in present-day Ireland and survivors deserve to have the story of the Laundries truthfully told.