WHEN Terri Harrison discovered her period was late in February 1973, she knew she had to leave Catholic Ireland. “The plan was if I discovered I wasn’t pregnant I’d have a ball for about a month and then come home,” said Terri. “If I was then to hell with everyone else, I wasn’t coming back.” WithinContinue reading “‘You are holding your baby and you are being told you are a filthy, selfish whore’”
Tag Archives: historical abuse
Child number 1629 – David’s story
By Patricia Devlin This month I spoke to a number of survivors of Ireland’s horrific mother and baby institutions. One of those was David Kinsella, a Dublin man who was born in the notorious St Patrick’s facility on the Navan Road. The 58 year-old’s story is incredibly heartbreaking. Set aside the abuse he suffered from the very dayContinue reading “Child number 1629 – David’s story”
Branded a fallen woman, but Mary was just another victim of Catholic Ireland
WHEN Francis Timmons held his dying mother’s hand, he felt like the luckiest man on earth. For not many children who survived the horrors of the 1970’s Irish care system were as fortunate to be with their mothers. “To be beside her when she was dying and to hold her hand…I was very luckyContinue reading “Branded a fallen woman, but Mary was just another victim of Catholic Ireland”
Patricia Devlin 