The Magdalen Asylums

The Magdalen Asylums

The Magdalen Asylums in Ireland can be traced back in origin all the way to the opening of the first asylum on Lower Leeson Street in Dublin in 1766 by Lady Arabella Denny (Luddy 2002). They were ever present in the backdrop of Irish society until the eventual closure of the last Magdalen laundry on Sean MacDermott Street Dublin in 1996. Originally these institutions were put in place to redeem what society viewed as ‘’fallen women’’, these were mainly women who had turned to prostitution. The word ‘prostitute’ was rarely used in these asylums and the women who took refuge in them were often referred to as ‘penitents’(Luddy 2002). These Asylums were a place where women would be rehabilitated and then re-enter society a new person, one that would reject a life of immorality and prostitution (Smith 2009). The name Magdalen was used for the Asylums to symbolise the transformation from being a“fallen woman” to becoming redeemed. It originates from the story of Mary Magdalens’ redemption in the bible. The Asylums changed a great deal in the first 133 years of their existence, there are a great many differences between the Asylums of the nineteenth century to those in the twentieth century. In contemporary times the Irish public are more familiar with the twentieth century Asylums, this is mainly due to survivor testimony, documentaries and movies which have depicted what life was like in these institutions. The following will explore some of the differences that occurred within the Asylums during their existence. To illustrate these differences comparisons will be drawn from available literature on the Asylums and the from the movie “The Magdalene Sisters” (Mullan 2002)

In the nineteenth century women came to the Asylums of their own free will and were invited to stay until such time as their lives had been reformed, usually no less of a time period of in and around two years, but each woman’s stay varied depending on the individual, as some women stayed there from the time they first entered to the time of their natural deaths. “sixty-four per cent of those admitted were dismissed with credit, usually after two years,”(Luddy 2002 ,p738). The Mercy Sisters’ Guide for the Religious (1866) set down the rules for the Asylums and in it states that the women “should come freely, without constraint” (Smith 2009).This was in stark contrast to the Magdalen laundries of the twentieth century where women were forcibly placed in these institutions because society viewed them as having questionable moral values, such as being a single mother with an illegitimate child (Smith 2009). These woman were kept in the Asylums and forced to work for no pay without the option of leaving of their own free will (Finnegan 2001).

“Are the girls paid”?

“No they earn their keep.”

…….

“Are the girls free”?

“Yes.”

“Can a girl leave whenever she chooses”?

MOTHER SUPERIOR: No, we’re not as lenient as all that. The girl must have a suitable place to go….

In this extract from Sutherland (1958, pp. 81-83) we can see that the women were kept as slave labour, forced to work in the laundry, and denied their freedom of movement by the nuns in charge of them. They were basically prisoners working for no pay. The courts of the twentieth century used the Asylums as an alternative to prison for female offenders of certain crimes such as concealment of births or infanticide. It is also not known if women who entered through the courts were released after they had completed the sentence they had received (Smith 2009).This idea of captivity against their will is also highlighted in the movie when a lock is added to the womens dormitory door, and a padlock is also in place on the main gate to the laundry in the movie (Mullan, 2002).

An aspect of the laundries that remained the same to some degree between the centuries is that of the work which took place within them. The women had to earn their keep, they could not stay there for free. The daily routine was one of mainly work, prayer and silence. There was some time for recreational activities in the earlier asylums but the asylums of the twentieth century mainly focused on work. In the early Asylums of the nineteenth century the woman worked in the laundries and learned skills that would benefit them in finding work for when they left and re-joined society. This included working in the laundries, needlework and other such “female labors” (McCarthy 2010). However as time went on and the laundries became more of a profit making device for the church (Smith 2009), the emphasis on teaching the women skills fell to the wayside and they were looked on more as free labour, the nuns in there charge had no interest in preparing them to be reintegrated into society as they had no intention of letting the women leave the laundry, they were more interested in institutionalising these woman and keeping them working and obedient for the interests of making money for the church (Smith 2009). This institutionalisation was achieved by treating the women inhumanely and stripping them of their identity and self-worth, they did this by “working the women for up to nineteen hours a day, changing their names, hiding them away from their families, poor working conditions and neglect of education” (McCarthy 2010). This stripping of identity was illustrated in the movie during the scene in which when Rose is asked her name and she says it, she’s then told that she will no longer be known as Rose, but will be called Patricia (Mullan 2002). Withholding education from the women also facilitated in keeping them dependant. So even though having to work in the laundries is a common link between the two centuries, the work itself, the hours worked and the reason behind getting the women to work was quite different (McCarthy 2010).

Originally the asylums were established and run by lay people, people in the community that were in a position, and wanted, to help the “fallen women” the prostitutes of society. In the beginning the public took an interest in the asylums and also wanted to help, but as time went on societies’ interest waned and funding started to become a problem for the privately run institutes. After the Contagious Diseases Act (1864) was put in place the Magdalen Asylums began to change. This act allowed women to be detained and checked for sexually transmitted diseases and then placed in lock hospitals, penitentiaries and laundries. The asylums were also funded by the government through the Reformatory Act (1858) and the Industrial Schools Act (1868) (Smith 2009). It was now the Catholic Church moved in on the asylums and turned them into Irish Catholic Convents (McCarthy 2010). This shift in direction from lay people to the Catholic Church is what led to the modern laundries of the twentieth century, by the 1920’s all the Asylums were being run by religious orders. This move was partially supported by the state, as this arrangement helped the state save on money it would otherwise have to spend on welfare (McCarthy 2010).

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