Forgive us our Trespasses: Mother and Baby Homes in Ireland

Abstract

The Irish state and Catholic Church established Magdalene laundries and Mother and Baby Homes in Ireland. These institutions forcibly housed unwed women who became pregnant, the last of which closed in 1996. It is estimated that 35,000 women were forced into these institutions and 6,000 babies died in their care. In 2014, a mass grave of babies and children was found in the septic tank at Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway. The following year, a commission was created to investigate these establishments. This visual essay explores the stories of these women and their babies as well as the reaction of a shocked nation.