Friday, March 10, 2017

A SOLEMN and poignant tribute was paid at the weekend to the women and children who were incarcerated in the infamous Magdalene Laundry in New Ross.

The ‘Flowers for Magdalenes’ ceremony was organised by local artist and community activist, Nancy Rochford-Flynn.

It was the fourth year that the event was held and a large crowd gathered in St. Stephen’s Cemetery on Sunday afternoon to hear an address by Ms. Rochford-Flynn as well as testimonials written by two girls who were locked up in such institutions.

“It’s lovely to see some familiar faces and always heart-warming to see new ones join with us to remember women who suffered incarceration in the former Sisters of the Good Shepherd Magdalene Laundry,” said Ms. Rochford-Flynn at the start of the ceremony.

“Our memorial marks the run up to International Women’s Day, a day which acknowledges women’s struggles for equality and celebrates and reflects our achievements,”she said.

She also highlighted the fact that 2017 marks the 50^th anniversary of the closure of the laundry in New Ross.

“With the demolition of St. Aidan’s Industrial school in December 2015, which formed part of the Good Shepherd campus here in New Ross, it has never been more fitting to commemorate and remember these women’s existence,” said Ms. Rochford-Flynn.

“This communal grave is the only remaining symbol of a legacy that a Magdalene Laundry existed in New Ross and remains the only focal point for survivors and their families.”

She also commented on the startling revelation, just a few days beforehand, with regard to the remains of babies and infants discovered at the site of a similar facility in Tuam and said: “In context with the very recent revelations of the Tuam babies this memorial is timely in reiterating the need for active commemoration shared by us all.”

Magdalene survivor, Maureen O’ Sullivan, then read ‘Behind Stone Walls’, by Terrie Harris, for those present.

In a passionate speech Ms. Rochford-Flynn said that to deny association with the Magdalene Laundries would be to deny continued abuse and negative attitudes towards women.

“Locked behind high walls and barred windows women and girls lived in silence, under orders not to speak, except to pray,” she said.

“Their hair was cut, their clothes removed and their name changed [and] this process of decoding and dehumanising the penitent women was introduced to demonstrate how conformity was deemed the only way to find salvation,” she added.

“There was no education and the women and girls worked six-days-a-week, labouring in the laundry for no pay. “

Following Ms. Rochford-Flynn’s address, Anne Wayne and her daughter, Roisin, were invited to read short stories outlining the experiences of two young girls who were incarcerated in such institutions.

Ms. Wayne said herself and Roisin have read many stories about young girls who were moved from industrial schools to Magdalene Laundries.

“This was usually done without their knowledge,” she said.

“ It was always done against their will and in every case it was illegal to move these girls as they were supposed to be under the care of the Department of Education.”

Ms. Wayne’s daughter then read the short stories from two who had such experiences.

In the first story she quoted Nancy Costello who was living in an industrial school in Limerick.

She was ’10 or 11 years-old’ when she went to the Magdalene laundry.

‘The nuns said I had to go because I was a trouble-maker but I wasn’t,’ quoted Roisin, when recalling Nancy’s words.

‘Not really; not like some of the other girls. I still don’t know the real reason why they sent me.’

The second story related to a girl named Mary Norris who was in the St. Joseph’s Industrial School in Killarney

Quoting her Roisin read: ‘The Good Shepherds is what they used to threaten us with if we were bold. It was a Magdalene Laundry in Cork. I was sent there to work, to slave in that laundry. The nuns had no right to do this as I had turned 16 and was out from their power. But I thought I had to do what they told me always. I didn’t know why I was there.’

Towards the end of the ceremony Kathleen Buggy read, ‘To be a Bird’, by Louise Hall.

Ms. Rochford-Flynn finished the ceremony by commenting there are five groups of people associated with the name Magdalenes.

“Those who speak out, those who live in silence, those still in institutional settings, the daughters and sons of the Magdalene women and finally the women who lived and died behind convent walls,” she said.

“Today is about this last group of women. The apology came too late and they will never receive reparation for the injustice inflicted upon them. This commemoration ensures that they are honoured, remembered and afforded the dignity which was denied them in life.”

The Magdalene flag was hoisted at last year’s memorial to mark the bravery of the women who lived and died within the laundries as part of the 1916 centenary celebrations.

The memorial concluded with a performance of local musician, Michael Fotterall’s, ‘Flag for Flowers’, which was inspired by the women’s stories, followed by Martina Kavanagh naming the 62 known women from the laundry buried in the cemetery while seven-year-old, Meadhbh Flynn, laid a flower on the grave for each of them. She was assisted by Sinead Croakin.

Afterwards those in attendance were given the opportunity to lay their own flowers at the grave including flowers from the local Educate Together School while Aideen Ní Riada then sang her rendition of ‘I’ll stand by you’.

Another highlight of the ceremony was a reading by Norah Clifford-Kelly of her own poem, ‘The Promise of Spirit’.

“The past must become our leading light guiding us towards that which we need to be sensitive to on our journey ahead,” said Ms. Rochford-Flynn, in conclusion

“If their lives were invisible and silent we must ensure that their memories, deaths and relatives are not.”