PÁIRC NA mBAN
In Memory Of The Women Who Suffered Abuse, Enforced Incarceration/ Imprisonment in the Magdalene Laundries, Mother & Baby Homes, Other Religious Run Institutions, Industrial Schools etc
Back in 1985, Ireland was still in the grips of an authoritarian church-state culture that had a pervasive influence on all aspects of life and social mores, and, essentially, held that women be treated as inferior beings, as second-class citizens.
It stipulated that a woman’s place was in the home, or, having strayed from a particular path laid down by the (male) Bishops and the Catholic Church, that she be incarcerated in a Mother & Baby Home or a Magdalene Laundry.
Even in factories and places of work, women were regarded as “inferior”, of lesser worth and were on lower rates of pay than their male counterparts.
This “culture” extended even to government departments. For example, once a female member of the civil service became married, she was obliged to exit her job. The “Marriage Bar”, as it was called, was only done away with in 1973.
Furthermore, efforts by a progressive Government Minister, Dr. Noel Browne, in the 1950s, to introduce a system of universal healthcare for women in the form of The Mother & Child Scheme were thwarted by the head of the Catholic Church, Archbishop McQuaid.
Also, it was only in 1973 that the Government introduced the Unmarried Mothers Allowance, under pressure from the E.E.C. and the campaign lobby group Cherish.
Even after its introduction, many unmarried women were not aware of its existence and continued to be forced into the Mother & Baby Homes system where their new- born babies
were forcibly removed from them, essentially stolen,expropriated and handed over for adoption under the auspices of organisations such as the St. Anne’s Adoption Society founded by Bishop Cornelius Lucey in 1954. The “Marriage Bar”, as it was called, was only done away with in 1973.
Furthermore, efforts by a progressive Government Minister, Dr. Noel Browne, in the 1950s, to introduce a system of universal healthcare for women in the form of The Mother & Child Scheme were thwarted by the head of the Catholic Church, Archbishop McQuaid.
Also, it was only in 1973 that the Government introduced the Unmarried Mothers Allowance, under pressure from the E.E.C. and the campaign lobby group Cherish.
Even after its introduction, many unmarried women were not aware of its existence and continued to be forced into the Mother & Baby Homes system where their new- born babies were forcibly removed from them, essentially stolen, expropriated and handed over for adoption under the auspices of organisations such as the St. Anne’s Adoption Society founded by Bishop Cornelius Lucey in 1954.
Much has still to be uncovered and unraveled about how the St. Anne’s Adoption Society and the Mother & Baby Homes Systems operated.
The bureaucratic approach of the Mother & Baby Homes Commission and the limited terms of reference of of its enquiries leaves much to be desired. For example, at present, there seems to be no handle on the amount of illegal adoptions that took place within the institutions. In many instances, the role of the adoptive mother was officially forged to make it so that she “became” the birth mother!
The burial sites scattered around the city, in places such as Bessborough and in cemeteries such as St. Finbarr’s still remain unaccounted for in terms of the numbers of infant burials, their identities and which institutions are specifically responsible for or involved in each plot.
Getting back to 1985, this was the year that the new park on Grand Parade was named by Cork City Council, by vote of the elected members as “Bishop Lucey Park”.
One of the few councillors to oppose the naming of it back then is Cllr. Ted Tynan of The Workers Party.
Ted has been one of the few outspoken critics, down through the years, of what went on in the Mother & Baby Homes –a critic of the abuse and incarceration that occurred, the ill-treatment, suffering of women within the Magdalene Laundries and Mother & Baby Homes, such as Bessborough, under the control of a church administration presided over by Bishop Lucey.
Moreover, the recently published Scoping Enquiry into abuse of pupils in religious- run schools, included a list of Cork Primary and Secondary Schools where such abuse is alleged to have taken place.
Such schools in Cork and the years in which the abuse occurred coincide with the term of office of Bishop Lucey, during the years he oversaw the school administrations and had a seat on all of their Boards of Management.
The inferences to be drawn from the Scoping Enquiry only reinforce the argument surrounding the criminal conduct of the Mother & Baby Homes that Lucey’s name be removed to coincide with the reopening of the Park, later this year, on completion of its refurbishment by City Council.
Part of the redress and the healing process and the acknowledgment of wrong-doing and the crimes perpetrated by the Catholic Church, its institutions and religious orders should be the renaming of Bishop Lucey Park to Páirc na mBan to honour the memories of those abused and to vindicate, to provide some form of restitution for the survivors
Thus, Cllr. Ted Tynan’s motion to rename the park to Páirc na mBan deserves full and unqualified public support of the people of Cork