A MOVING and poignant memorial service will take place in New Ross on Sunday, March 1, at 2 p.m.

The ceremony, ‘Flowers for Magdalenes’, will be held in St. Stephen’s Cemetery.

It will mark the second year-in-a-row for a memorial service to commemorate women who were incarcerated in the Good Shepherd Magdalene Laundry, which was located within a few hundred yards of the cemetery in the Irishtown.

A non-political event the commemoration is open to adults and children to attend. Last year there was a very large crowd in attendance and the event offered the people of New Ross and the surrounding areas an opportunity to gather together peacefully and respectfully to commemorate the women through poetry, song, reflection and the laying of flowers.

The organisers are encouraging those attending this year’s ceremony to bring along flowers which will be placed at the graveside of the unfortunate women.

The event will also coincide with the lead-in to International Women’s Day which will be held on March 8.

The reason it is being held a week early is so that it will coincide with similar commemorations in Dublin and Cork.

The former Good Shepherd Magdalene Laundry was situated at the Mercy Convent, in the Irishtown, New Ross.

It was one of 10 laundries in Ireland and closed its doors in 1967.

The last of the laundries, the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of Refuge, in Sean McDermott Street, Dublin, remained open until 1996!

The capacity of the Laundry at New Ross was approximately 50 women and the average occupancy was about that until the early 1960s.

By the time it closed its occupancy rate had dropped to around 20 women.

The 2013 McAleese report stated that approximately 10,000 women are known to have entered a Magdalene Laundry system nationwide.

In June 2013 the Government promised to implement Mr. Justice John Quirke’s recommendations for a Magdalene restorative justice scheme; to-date that promise has not been fully carried out.

Some women have received compensation but others are still awaiting redress and the full recommended redress package has yet to be honoured.

“These delays are of deep concern given the age of the women, many whom are in declining health,” said one of the organisers of the forthcoming event in New Ross.

Some of the women who suffered have passed away since the apology was made.

The New Ross event is being organised by Nancy Rochford-Flynn in conjunction with Justice for Magdalene’s Research (JFM).

Ms. Rochford-Flynn is an Interdisciplinary Artist/Community Art Activist and has completed a body of work to highlight the plight of Ireland’s Magdalene women.

Anyone with a genuine interest who wishes to read or recite a poem as part of this commemoration can contact Nancy on 086-4074290 or private message her on the Flowers for Magdalene’s facebook event page.