); We were told our mothers were prostitutes and ne er-do-wells. My mother was a senior civil servant, aged 30
Susan Lohan says adopted people have for decades been fed a false narrative about their mothers in the hopes they won’t try to find them. By Órla Ryan Saturday 16 Jan 2021, 10:30 AM Jan 16th 2021, 10:30 AM 119,120 Views 0 Comments
Susan Lohan
Susan Lohan
SUSAN LOHAN HAS been campaigning for the rights of adopted people for 20 years.
She co-founded the Adoption Rights Alliance in 2009 and more recently was appointed to the Mother and Baby Home Collaborative Forum.
The forum was set up in 2018 by then-Minister Katherine Zappone to help inform the Department of Children of survivors’ wishes on legacy issues related to the homes as the commission carried out its work.
THE publication of the report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation, cataloguing the horrendous abuse and exploitation handed out to tens of thousands of women over the decades by religious institutions of both main religious faiths lays bare the violence and repressive attitudes that have been inflicted on women in general here in Ireland.
Those forces that secured their victory and established the Irish Free State were more than willing to hand over many critical services that the people needed to religious orders, including health and education and much more, creating a culture of dependence and fear.
Order that ran Castlepollard mother and baby home issues apology
Reporter:
newsroom@longfordleader.ie
FILE PHOTO: Order that ran Castlepollard mother and baby home issues apology Photo Credit - Brian Lockier/Adoption Rights Alliance );
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The regilious order that ran Castlepollard mother and baby home, which was opened in 1935 and closed in 1971, has sincerely apologised to those who did not get the care and support they needed and deserved.
The report of The Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation, shows that from 1935 - 71, 4,972 women were admitted - many from Longford - and that 4,559 children were born there or admitted there.