Mother and babies homes information sealed for 30 years

Well deserved award, she was on rte radio recently talking about her book.

Will the religious staff of these homes be chased until their deaths like those working in the Nazi death camps? If not why bother doing any additional investigations whatsover?

Or at the very least, confiscate most of their property and wealth and give it all back to the people of Ireland. (particularly the victims of these crimes against humanity)

I can never understand why the RCC was still allowed to own so much land and nice big old houses etc, after all these scandals started coming out. They never got these things from the Vatican in Rome. It was the people of Ireland, many of them very poor themselves, who reached into their pockets and built up the power and wealth of these institutions!

All of these religious institutions have collective blood on their hands. And there should be financial reparations paid for these crimes. "Sorry, that's our land. You can't build your children's hospital." Fcuk off!

As vile as the RCC in the role of mother and baby homes, the Irish people were just as complicit. To deny this is to insult the women and wee babies and children again. My grandmother told me often that girls lived in fear of being sent into a home - and not just for fear of falling pregnant.

Families could send a girl to the home on the say of father or poor abandoned wife at whim - or a jealous neighbour or farmer spreading lies and gossip, the local priest would get involved. How many times - until recent history did this happen. The local guard and priest acted as judge and for want of a better term executioner. If someone felt sorry for the girls and children, but if they tried to help in anyway, they were frowned upon by the others.

Girls could be sent to the homes, because they were orphaned, or abused and fear of becoming morally corrupt. Unless someone signed you out of these homes you could be there for many years in some cases.

A family good name was above everything else. The power the church, teachers and guards had over every day life was known and recognised, yet nothing in real terms changed until recently. How many can recall as school children, especially in a more rural background having to bring coal/turf to a school, yet if you couldn't, then singled out. Church donations weekly etc. Teachers severely beating children - usually poorer or from a background that was deemed they could get away with it. Whoa betide a farmers daughter or son getting a belt or strap that would mark them as they had someone with 'local standing' respected to query. If a child didn't have someone, well .......

This is what I mean by Irish society of the time was complicit. The school worked in tandem with the church and vice versa.

I know of one occasion in my own mother time at school in early 50's (rural Ireland), where a child was given such a such a clout (my mothers words), picked up by the hair and slapped across the head. This child was a particular scapegoat by account. When they got home, the mother noticed the mark on the face, but was too frightened to speak to the teacher. It was an older lady went to the teacher and commented to the priest.

In no certain terms was she made aware that should she complain any further then her name would be called in the church.....Frightened, that is what they were. She knew that she would not win. The boy suffered from bad headaches after that and eventually left school. Sometime later, that master left the school.

The mother and baby homes were discussed in the Dail on the 50's and 60's, the care and condition of the women and children.

And especially the gutless men, who raped and impregnated young woman, and then ran away.

I understood that this thread was about the homes in general - not just Tuam. Compensation - primarily is OWN IT. OWN and take responsibly. Apologies have been given, rightly so. But paperwork that was held in local county offices, that was sat gathering dust, that is not available openly is very sad.

"Families and the society"? Families and the society were besieged by the church's power, everyone was afraid of the church, afraid they'd go to hell, afraid God wouldn't love them. They handed over every last penny to the church for salvation. The church is 100% to blame for the atrocities of the church. The church groomed society and should be held accountable. Thankfully they were too stupid to see what'd happen when they educated us beyond reading and writing.

Yet some families didn't send their daughters, eg Peggy McCarthy (ref) - and I know others by name, too, who stood by their abused children.

How come some families managed, and others didn't.