Sir, – I read with sadness Catherine McCann's article ("Sisters who ran Magdalene laundries are being treated unjustly", Opinion & Analysis, March 3rd) and her misplaced sympathy for her erstwhile colleagues. Does she believe, in her heart of hearts, that the Magdalene laundries were operated in a fair, benevolent fashion? Does she sincerely think that the women who were incarcerated there were treated with kindness, were allowed to develop their self-respect, were properly educated by the nuns, were well fed, received appropriate medical treatment when required, and were paid a decent wage for the long, hard hours which they endured in the laundry?
I would point out to her that there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Over 100 survivors of Magdalene laundries, who live in this country, are telling a very different story.
They speak of brutality, of hard work for which they were never paid, of massive unkindness and lack of respect for them as human beings, of deprivation, of having their own children forcibly removed from their care, of abuse which was psychological, physical and sexual in nature.
They speak of being described as “penitents” for committing an act which was far less evil than the acts perpetrated against them by the Roman Catholic Church.
In the case of my great-aunt Esther Harrington (70 years in the Good Shepherd, Cork), who had family who wanted to claim her but were threatened out of it by a local Catholic priest, what would Ms McCann say to that? My grandmother thought she was well respected in the Roman Catholic Church but apparently she was not, because when she wanted to help her sister-in-law she was told she would be condemned from the pulpit and that she would lose her sweetshop, that my grandfather would lose his coal round and the family would be left destitute should she persist in trying to remove Esther from the laundry. Esther was a talented seamstress so obviously she was worth a lot of money to the nuns, which is why they wanted to keep her.
It’s worth noting that Esther passed away in 1987 in the convent, at the age of 83. The good nuns conveniently forgot to put her name on the headstone of the mass grave where she is buried. This was done only last year. What a way to treat someone who had been forced to give her life to an order of nuns.
These orders are not being treated unfairly by the media, but they are being put under scrutiny, their deeds and attitudes are being made public and the public does not like what it sees.
The nuns are being subjected to having to face the truth about their behaviour for the first time and they can’t handle it. – Yours, etc,
ROSE BRIEN
HARRINGTON,
Eaton Heights
Cobh,
Co Cork.