The Northern Ireland Executive Office has set-up a Truth Recovery Independent Panel, comprising 10 individuals with relevant skills and experience to uncover and record the untold history of Northern Ireland’s Mother and Baby Institutions, Magdalene Laundries, and Workhouses, and the pathways and practices connected to them, from 1922-1995. One of the Panel’s most important objectives is to gather testimony from as wide a variety of people as possible who were connected to the institutions.
These institutions are more often associated with the Republic of Ireland and the Catholic Church, but they were nevertheless an island-wide phenomena and in Northern Ireland were operated by both the State and by Protestant and Catholic organizations. The impact of these institutions and the pathways and practices associated with them has been widespread. Many of those who passed through the institutions in Northern Ireland now live in North America and it is vital that their voices contribute to the understanding of the Independent Panel. This is a global story, and we want to hear from anyone whose life has been touched by these institutions, regardless of where they now live. We know that many of the women who were in one of these institutions have emigrated. Likewise, a number of children, now adults, were adopted from Northern Ireland to the United States. Perhaps one of your family members has been impacted by one of the institutions? If so, we would be interested in hearing their story or about how this has affected further generations.
The Independent Panel is keen to collect the testimonies of all affected by these institutions. This includes birth mothers, their children now adults, and other family members of girls and women who were sent to Mother and Baby Institutions, Magdalene Laundries and Workhouses. We urge those affected to come forward to offer testimonies on their experiences in the institutions and the long-term impact those institutions had on themselves and on their family relationships. For those who subsequently emigrated to the USA, the Independent Panel wants to learn if their decision to leave Northern Ireland was based on what they had experienced.
These institutions did not operate in isolation, and as we widen our call for testimony, it is crucial to hear from a broad range of people connected to them. This includes those with links through their employment: social workers, police officers, local doctors, midwives, magistrates, or others who had a role in working with the institutions and their connected pathways and practices. We would like to speak to those who volunteered or worked in the institutions or from priests or religious ministers who may have advised parishioners about the institutions and can help us understand how they were run. We are aware that some people fitting these descriptions, and others, migrated to North America.
Even those who lived near these institutions may have insights that they can offer on what went on inside. A further important group we wish to hear more from are the couples who adopted children from these institutions, as their experiences and memories will provide invaluable insight into how children were treated and the workings of the adoption process.
The Independent Panel guarantees that testimony will be recorded in a safe and sensitive format and there is support available before, during and after the confidential testimony process. For those based in the USA, the Independent Panel can collect testimony in an online format at a time of the individual’s choosing. Where necessary, free support can be provided from trained individuals from the Wave Trauma Centre in Northern Ireland. Those interested in giving testimony can, in confidence, make initial contact without any obligation to follow through.
The more accounts that are collected, the better the Independent Panel can understand how these institutions operated, who was affected, and how practices evolved over time. The recorded testimonies will contribute to the Final Report of the Independent Panel, which will explain the history and impact of Mother and Baby Institutions, Magdalene Laundries and Workhouses and their associated pathways and practices. The testimonies will also be available to the Statutory Public Inquiry, which will take place after the Independent Panel has completed its work and will help shape the Independent Panel’s findings and recommendations to the Public Inquiry,
Every small detail counts, and no piece of information is too insignificant. For example, someone who regularly took family laundry to one of the Good Shepherd Laundries (in Belfast, Derry or Newry) may have witnessed the women working there and the conditions they worked in.
Or someone may have knowledge of the related pathways and practices associated with these institutions. This might include information about a private nursing home that assisted in hiding pregnancies from public view and where babes were separated from their mothers soon after birth, or information about the movement of babies for adoption across the Irish border.
Similarly, we need to establish what was considered routine in these institutions versus what was abnormal. Such observations are an important part of the puzzle when piecing together the broader picture.
The importance of every individual testimony was made clear recently when a participant came forward with information about a Mother and Baby Home which up to then had not been included in the investigation’s original list.
Submitting testimony to the Independent Panel provides a unique opportunity to help the Independent Panel understand these important issues. This facility has never been available to victims-survivors in any previous investigation, and we hope that as many people as possible will take it up. As a Panel, we wish to listen, document, and give a voice to all perspectives. Together, we can piece together the broader picture of this hidden history.
If you would like to talk to one of our Testimony Team, please contact us: Email: testimony@independentpanel.org.uk; Phone: +44 28 9052 0263 (Open Monday – Friday 11am - 12pm and 3pm - 4pm or leave a voicemail on our secure answering service any time outside of these hours.). Mail: Truth Recovery Independent Panel, 4th Floor, Equality House, 7-9 Shaftesbury Square BT2 7DB; Website: www.independentpanel.truthrecoveryni.co.uk/.
Professor Leanne McCormick is Co-Chair of the Truth Recovery Independent Panel, investigating the workings of Mother and Baby Homes, Magdalene Laundries, Workhouses and their pathways and practices in Northern Ireland 1922-1995.
List of institutions
Magdalene Laundries
Good Shepherd Sisters convent / St Mary’s Home, 511 Ormeau Rd,
Belfast
Good Shepherd Sisters convent / St Mary’s Home, 132 Armagh Rd, Newry
Good Shepherd Sisters / St Mary’s Home, Dungiven Road. Derry/Londonderry
Industrial Home
Salvation Army / Thorndale Industrial Home, Duncairn Avenue, Belfast
Mother and Baby Institutions operated by voluntary/religious bodies/charities
Belfast Midnight Mission / Malone Place Rescue and Maternity Home -
Malone Road, Belfast
Good Shepherd Sisters (Marianville) - 511 Ormeau Rd, Belfast
Good Shepherd Sisters (Marianvale) - 132 Armagh Rd, Newry
Hopedene Hostel - 55 Dundela Avenue
Kennedy House - 8 Cliftonville Ave, Belfast
Mater Dei Hostel - 298 Antrim Rd, Belfast
Thorndale House (Salvation Army) - Duncairn Avenue, Belfast
Deanery Flats (Banardo’s), Windsor Avenue, Belfast.
Mother and Baby Institutions / Operated by the State / the Trusts
Belfast Welfare Hostel - Lisburn Rd, Belfast
Coleraine Welfare Hostel
Mount Oriel Hostel - 4 Mount Oriel, Belfast
Workhouses
Board of Guardians: (1922-1948) Antrim, Armagh, Ballycastle, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Belfast, Castlederg, Clogher, Coleraine, Cookstown, Downpatrick, Dungannon, Enniskillen, Irvinestown, Kilkeel, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, Lisnaskea, Londonderry, Lurgan, Magherafelt, Newry, Newtownards, Omagh and Strabane
Baby homes that received infants from Mother and Baby Institutions
Voluntary Homes
St Joseph’s Baby Home, Belfast / Nazareth Homes
Nazareth Homes, Derry / Londonderry
Nazareth House Baby Home, Portadown
Our Mother of Mercy Home, Newry
Dr Barnardo’s, Manor House, Ballycastle
Glendhu Children’s Hostel, Hollywood Road, Belfast
State / Welfare Homes
Coleshill, Enniskillen
Connywarren, Omagh
Clogrennon, Larne
DhuVarren, Portrush
Glenerye, Portadow.
