Having grown up and escaped the catholic prison called Ireland the telling of these atrocities is never far from my memory. In the slums where I lived it was well known that the borstal institutions were a places that unimaginable torture would be carried out against children. A common threat to a child was to be sent to Artane Industrial School just outside Dublin city where Christian Brothers raped little boys. Other heinous places was run by the Sisters of Charity who ran laundries where young pregnant women were incarcerated and their children vanished. The state turned a blind eye at best or more likely were complicit in the degradation of the women and children. the culture was such that the Irish had a morbid fascination with the appearance of respectability at any cost. The Irish constitution gave no protection to those unfortunates especially since a large part of the document was authored by the then archbishop of Dublin John Charles McQuaid a reputed child abuser. I was lucky to avoid the perverts in the church ,but I know many who were not and still suffer today as a result of that abuse and the destruction of their youth. The Irish government was no more than a puppet of the catholic church. To this day the women of Ireland are treated as less than bovine breeders with laws that control their reproductive rights. So when the catholic church raises its banners in New York on St. Patrick's Day remember they are soaked in the blood of innocents .
7
I am surprised by the small number of response to this prize winning article
3
I am even more scandalized by how these children were treated before they died and their remains stuffed into a septic tank. What is the explanation for the Auschwitz-like mortality rate? Did the good sisters starve these kids to death?
4
if the Church treats their own in this terrible manner, what can one expect how they treat people outside of their beliefs?
5
Many of these girls and women were pregnant due to incest and rape. The Catholic Church and the Government never detained anyone but the women who were ostracized by society and who were thrown out of the home(s) after 12 months. There was no contraceptives and no sex education. These homes were scattered throughout the island. The nuns were not trained in midwifery nor would any 'respectable' doctor go to the homes to deliver any baby. The infant mortality rate was very high in Ireland at that time due to malnutrition and other diseases. I do not condone what happened but please the Catholic Church would not have allowed the burials in a Catholic graveyard because these babies were 'bastards' and 'illegitimate'. The nuns swaddled the babies and had a member of the staff carefully entomb/bury them in an area on their property - not perfect but given the circumstances and the culture it would behoove of us all to try to picture what it must have been like for these girls and women. Please also remember that many sanctimonious Americans adopted these infants making them complicit in the continuing charade under the auspices of 'being a good Irish Catholic' and making voluntary monetary contributions to these homes. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone or even try to walk in the shoes of the victims infants, children and women
7
Duffie, you didn't mention the partners in these crimes, men. The Church is run by men, hmm. There is always more to a story and a good place to continue is with the management of the unwed mother homes run by Catholic Charities in the United States. Know of what I speak. Those changes didn't come about until recently. I don't cast stones but the Church does so freely when it comes to sex education, birth control, LGBTQ.....and wonders why so many have become cafeteria catholics?
7
I am definitely without this sin, so I can start chucking stones. Enough of this collective guilt nonsense, which tends to let the actual perpetrators off the hook.
6
Latest story re "Lost Children of Tuam" is a mirror of a movie several years ago, starring Judy Dench. Mary Jo Wallace, Carmel, IN
3
Without a doubt the two greatest plagues put upon the Irish people have been the Catholic Church and the British. How dare they.
8
Didn't the Times run a story about these homes a few years ago? A rather detailed story, as I remember, based not just on reminiscences only but on forensic evidence from exhumations of the bodies of these children? Or am i remembering a story in some other newspaper or magazine? Has more been discovered since then about these children and how they died, will Mr. Barry now tell us?
In any case, Mr. Barry, if you do have any new information about this ugly and depressing business, please tell us. That, and less about yourself.
2
I've read all of this and still find the story incomplete:
https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/jun/20/ireland-childpr...
Two NYT articles, with different authors:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/world/europe/ireland-tuam-mother-and-...
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/28/world/europe/tuam-ireland...
1
A church sponsored genocide in the middle of the 20th century...
as the culprits are very much alive, will the good Christians please ensure that they are put behind bars?
5
The excellent reporting on the Lost Children of Tuam turned my stomach. That these neglected and abused children and their mothers lost their physical and/or spiritual beings to a Catholic order, and in my lifetime, is a disgrace.
The question is why did this happen, and how was it able to go on for decades? I place the blame squarely on a religion that equates celibacy with Godliness, that equates sex outside of marriage as sin. The Catholic Church sustains itself by recruiting new souls in third world countries, where ultra-conservative practices like no birth control, no sex before marriage, and absolute hatred of homosexual or transgender people are the norm.
People are still dying because of these practices. Pope Frances, you seem like a good man. It's time to acknowledge that these "rules" are not only completely anachronistic but cause great harm. What would Jesus say to people committing acts tantamount to murder in his name?
4
Such a massive genocide in a tiny country couldn’t have taken place without the knowledge of most of the populace... why are all the culprits, especially the Church silent?
4
The SS rented out Jewish labour to manufacturing concerns, and when babies arrived, they were just disposed of. I seem to recollect that some of the SS brass were hanged for those crimes.
What is the difference between the SS and the Magdalen laundries and mother and baby homes? They rented out the slave labour of the so-called fallen women, and disposed of their babies, adopting them out for profit or letting them die from maltreatment.
When I first read about this in the Guardian or the Independent, I recall the bishop's first concern was to bury the little ones in hallowed ground as quickly as possible (i.e., get rid of the evidence).
My fearless prediction - there will be another report, and no one will be held accountable. After all, it was Holy Mother Church. And Holy Mother Church will have stonewalled this inquiry the same as it did the inquiry into child sexual abuse. At least while committing its crimes the SS never claimed to be concerned about the salvation of its victims.
7
I'm surprised the story's credits do not mention the article, published about 1 month before this one, by Sarah Hampson in The Globe and Mail, "Ireland's 'House of Tears'" -- many passages of the two articles are remarkably similar.
3
If there was a Nobel prize for compassion, Ms. Corless would be a very worthy recipient.
12
Maybe those pious nuns and prelates will learn a lesson about what a real saint looks like.
3
It is astounding that there appears to be no association in the minds of the Irish interviewed between the Tuam children and the nameless unknown men who fathered them. The story as related concerns the poor girls "who found themselves pregnant" and the babies taken from them. The Irish should be out beating the bushes to identity the fathers and conduct a national campaign of shame, not only to compel them to acknowledge the consequences of what they did, but shine a floodlight on the twisted values of Catholic Ireland and the ignorant passivity of its people.
6
The next Grand Marshall of St Patrick's Day parade should be an orphan victim. Enough of the nonsense about cute leprechauns and other fairy tales
2
Simply brilliant NYT article, I know of families and individuals that have suffered the horrors of Tuam
Thanks to Mr Barry and of course Catherine Corless
I hope it's reprinted in one of the Irish newspapers
Brendan O'Brien
Mayo and Dublin Ireland
5
Thank you very much for writing about this, and reminding us of the horrors that occurred. There is no difference between what happened at Tuam and other such places and what happened at Nazi concentration camps. This is a most horrific sin against helpless women and innocent children that kept on repeating itself for many decades. And all the while, I'm sure those Bon Secours sisters and their government sponsors considered themselves good people. What is most terrifying about evil is how unaware its perpetrators can be; it just becomes a way of life, or rather, a way of death. And all in the name of some "god." Please preserve us all from the proprieties that are imposed by society and the religious in such a place as Ireland. What a house of horrors, or many houses of horrors were produced from such misguided souls, dedicated to evil. World, look at your evils with honesty so that they may be stopped, lest in another 50 years we'll find out what has been happening even now.
2
I guess the Catholic Church forgot about Jesus' teachings regarding the treatment of children.
4
Maybe they misinterpreted "suffer the little children."
2
This story is why journalism matters. Thank you.
6
This story is not so much Dickensian as Beckettian. Horror is often, as Hannah Arendt wrote, banal. A huge heartbreak, among other things.
3
This haunting story implicates others like it that are not yet known, are still untold or forever repressed. Will it be like the pedophile priest phenomenon that was not limited to Boston ? Were these children an equivalent expression of the right to life movement we are convulsed by ? And what about the systematic genocide of the Church in the New World, all the New Worlds ? So, if Jesus died for our sins, who died for Jesus's sins ?
2
I think there are other guides. Somehow Dean Swift's Modes Proposal (1729) strongly hints at the continuing and potentially vast "negligent" infanticide in Ireland. He seemed angry even then. Dickens states that similar conditions existed with high mortality rates in Yorkshire "schools" with description of what could come from the Holocaust at the start of Chapter 13, Nicholas Nickleby (1838). Ms. Corless has joined esteemed company.
4
"And we've put into our White House a man completely capable of and willing to compound the death and destruction if it suits a fit of personality disorder."
there is no connection between Trump and the scandalous death of childern in Ireland, 56to 92 years years ago. isn't it time for NYT readers to stop gratuitous attacks on the President of the US?
1
You are correct, there is no direct connection, but there is a sentimental one. His supporters, not all, but quite a few, wish to return us to this "better time". They have a nostalgic longing for when the quest for respectability was the holy grail no matter the cost. They either dont know all the secrets that every family has or they have chosen to forget and/or ignore them. All they recall is the wonderful memories that have probably been mashed up with all the commercials and shows of their childhood and youth that presented perfect worlds.
The children, the vast preponderance of them, were murdered. This is an open, mass murder or serial murder case. Why is this not mentioned? Time is spent on Mrs. Corless' "lack of qualifications" but none on the legal aspects of this case.
4
Chillingly haunting and sad. Powerfully written; leaves the reader with an aching heaviness, like the aftermath of a nightmare one can't shake the next day. When and how did the diabolical, misogynistic Catholic Church insinuate its roots of control so deeply throughout the turf of Irish life? Hopefully, modern Ireland is aggressively clearing the thicket of Church repression, lies, duplicity and cruelty.
2
Honorable reporting on difficult times. The chasm of misunderstanding begins by denying our real understanding of just how individuals in power do abuse others in less fortunate circumstances-always and in all times.
2
This was a harrowing, haunting story. But Catherine Corless renews my faith in humanity, a person who believed that these children were owed something better in death than what had been theirs in life. And she took it upon herself to ensure that they would have their stories told and a proper burial. She cut through the institutional indifference and stonewalling to find the truth.
Catherine, I sincerely hope that you will find peace and to take comfort in knowing that you have made the world a better place. You are a hero when this world so desperately needs courage and the kindness you have shown to strangers.
5
Now and then I consider cancelling my subscription to the times, then a piece like this comes out and I know that my money is well spent. I've come to se it as an investment in America, and maybe even the world as a beacon of truth telling in a complicated and confusing world. So good to know the world still has heroes like this Irish grandmother whose story, like those of the poor starved children of the Irish orphanages, would not otherwise be told. The fact that we can still care about something like this gives me hope for humanity.
3
I had no idea. Thank you, Mr. Barry and also to Ms. Corliss. Over the centuries, and over the millennia, the number of abuses and atrocities we humans commit and perpetuate on one another staggers the imagination. It is our duty to bring to light atrocites -- which we do as the media and individually -- with an aim to show why we can no longer tolerate these atrocities. My Irish ancestor emigrated in the 1700s and landed in what became Kentucky. But we forget how primitive life was for so many and how hypocritical religion can be.
3
This was such an incredibly written piece about a terribly upsetting tale. Kudos to both Dan Barry and Catherine Corless.
1
A wonderful, heart-breaking, angering story and I disagree only with one sentence. Who can possibly believe that the nuns threw baby bodies into a septic tank because they were burying them in the style of the catacombs? No Catholic would believe that. The monks are in consecrated ground. They are prayed over, their bodies preserved carefully. These babies were tossed into sewage, not even into trash.
2
This was a brilliant combination of excellent research and writing, made all the more effective by honesty as well as compassion.
2
The Tuam tragedy is heart wrenching. But we should be careful to recognize it as a human tragedy, not just an Irish tragedy. There are many complex reasons the Church assumed so much power in Ireland and that should be the lesson - this is an example of how absolute power is so corrupting.
And it’s not the Church in its essence. Instead it’s the individuals who had risen to power in the Church and certain external political forces coincidentally at play.
As a recent example, which pales in comparison to Tuam because no one died, male dominance in Hollywood is similarly an abuse of power. Also campus cultures that don't brook any dissent from their conventional wisdom. And equally absolutist right wing extremists.
Very deadly examples of corrupting power can range from Nazism, to Mao’s purges, to the current situation in parts of the Middle east and Africa etc., etc.
While the Church did many great things in Ireland over the millennia (my parents migrated to the US from rural Ireland in the '20s), in its name many horrendous acts were also committed - by flawed humans. Tuam should definitely be publicized to reduce the likelihood that something similar will happen in the future.
But it would be a grave mistake, though unfortunately a culturally acceptable one today, to over-emphasize the role of the institution of the Church and nuns in general, where positive aspects of both seem to be implicitly dismissed in this otherwise well written article.
4
Thank you Mr. Barry, for writing this, especially for trusting Ms. Corless and her diligent years of work. All nations have their original sins and nearly all institutions their secrets. God bless the whistle blowers and thel truth tellers. The importance of laying out of the countrywide devastating effects of the famine and the workhouse makes this story rise above simple scandal. It's achingly poignant. Beautiful, sensitive writing.
1
Dan, thank you for telling this story with the beauty, sensitivity, and dignity it deserves, and for giving Ms Corless the credit she deserves for unearthing, amplifying, and preserving the stories of the living and the dead who were so cruelly treated by the Church in Tuam and elsewhere.
I can't help but think that the cruelty, neglect, and indignity suffered by the defenseless children in the home is matched by the life-long suffering felt by the women who were forced to abandon their children there and not only were powerless to protect or defend them, but who were explicitly blamed and condemned for creating them and for whatever fate they suffered. It was never-ending, life-long emotional torture. And sadly and infuriatingly, it is neither ancient history nor confined to Ireland. My mother suffered similarly in a Catholic home for unwed mothers in Connecticut in the 1960's, and she never had a day's peace for the rest of her natural life. The cruelty from representatives of an organization that claims to follow the teachings of Christ is astounding.
2
why did you not ask the home babies what life at the home was like? I feel sure the reason is not that they would remember kind treatment , which would tend to weaken the impact of the article. But don't you see that you open yourself to that suspicion by failing to include such interviews?
Thank you Dan Barry and Catherine Corliss. Having grown up in Ireland, it is distressing to read this story, to look at the faces and hear the words of those who suffered. And yet, it's important for me to learn and remember.
Just outside the building where I work at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, a beautiful totem pole honours the aboriginal children who died in abysmal Canadian residential schools. For me, the pole links the painful history of the country I left with that of my adopted country and ensures that I remember every day.
2
I'm not Irish and haven't been to Ireland yet but this beautifully written story touched me deeply. In fact, I sobbed when I got to the part about PJ in his adulthood. Thank you to Catherine Corless, for her deep commitment and work. Thank you, Dan Barry and the NYT.
3
This story breaks my heart - the pain, humiliation and devastation wrought upon the innocent and powerless by a heartless hierarchy.
The same hierarchy that bought us Boston, Bridgeport, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland, Seattle ... and the list goes on.
The same hierarchy that ignored, turned a blind eye and protected the bishops, archbishops and cardinals that were and are responsible for the protection of the most vulnerable and least powerful of their flock - Our Children.
The same hierarchy that redefined the meaning of the word "law" when it promoted probably its most flagrant violator - cardinal Law - to a comfortable and public Vatican retirement.
As I told a local and very militantly conservative priest last week; I feel much closer to my God walking through my local park than when I'm in my parish church. In the park I see God and His nature at its best. In my church, much too often, I hear "Do as we say, not as we do."
3
Mr. Barry may feel that a chasm of misunderstanding stands between Ireland and America, but only someone with Irish blood could find language that was powerful and beautiful enough to tell the tale of these hard-hearted horrors.
10
Incredibly sad. Such cruelty and mindlessness. A church that carries on about the sanctity of life and the evils of abortion and then sanctions this kind of treatment? Disgusting.
28
Many modern Protestant churches have the exact same attitudes preaching personal responsibility in one's sexual activity and not wanting to, promote, fund or provide easy access to birth control.
2
This article made me WANT to believe in Christian dogma, so all the people responsible for these unforgivable sins against helpless women and innocent children would get their just deserts in that fabled afterlife.
14
Great work Mr. Barry. Another reason my NYT subscription is underpriced.
11
My mother's mother and her two sisters, Ellen, Kate and Nellie, emigrated from Tuam in 1908. Life in Brooklyn was arduous and painful at times but all of their children lived. Ms Corless has a strong even chilling resemblance to my older sister, Kathleen Ellen.
I thank her and the NYT staff for this expose even though it makes me sick of heart.
17
Thank you for all your work in researching and writing this story. Having grown up in Ireland before moving to the states I was thrown back to living in a country ruled by and mixture of government and church. Your writing left me in tears for the ills suffered by those poor children and their mothers.
10
Similar to the heartbreaking story depicted in the movie Philomena of a real mother and real son who only found each other after the son had died. An Irish child adopted by Americans whose mother never forgot him and never stopped looking for him. And he looked for her. But the Catholic "Christian" nuns helped neither of them.
15
I've been in the photojournalism business for over 35 years and have to say this was one of the most powerful stories I've ever read. And the accompanying video story was about as perfectly produced as a story can be. Hats off to everyone involved. Amazing work.
20
Mrs. Corless seems to be a classic introvert with the many excellent qualities such folks have (see the book The Power of Quiet). Bless her for her persistence, patience and integrity in doggedly pursuing the truth, for the sake of those mistreated women and children.
11
Beautiful writing and such a powerfully haunting story that brought me to tears. As a US adoptee ( Baby Scoop Era) and "illegitimate child ", thank you and especially Ms. Corless for finding the" lost" story. Sadly , in this era, the Catholic church is still fighting to keep adoption records sealed and adult adoptees "lost". As one commenter said, how could this have happened ?
How far we have NOT come.....
10
This is a beautifully written horror story. Our history, our present, in all its horror. It’s critical that we see what we have done in the name of God, the church, and morals all at the expense of women and children. Does what happened 50-80 years ago have anything to do with the way women are treated now? YES!
16
While I read this haunting, beautifully written piece, my thoughts drifted to the young undocumented immigrant who sought to end her pregnancy while detained by the Trump administration. Held captive by a government force overwhelmingly influenced by evangelical, anti-abortition beliefs, the case made its way through the court system where constitutional law finally prevailed. In the case of the lost children of Tuam the force of the Catholic Church ruled in the every day lives of all. No separation of church/state. No constitutional law to remedy gross conduct. I simply cannot shake my disbelief that the laws of our land can so easily be run over by religious zealots who act in the name of their God while ignoring the rule of law. I commend journalists who seek the truth and listen to the stories of the powerless. Without their reporting, we, the people, are being fogged out by the war the Trump administration is waging against us every day.
22
Carole, your reply deserves neon warning lights flashing around it. Religious fanaticism, gender dominance, racism, and the unbridled influence of wealth when gone unchecked by independent government lead where? Regardless of the country, they lead to widespread complicity with social humiliation and lack of equity in the most basic responsibilities of a society: food, housing, education, compensation for labor, and safety from the unlawful violence of institutions. Some football players kneel to bring attention to police violence and a flurry of vicious flag waving begins. Babies die of neglect and women deemed "fallen" are held in slavery and, as yet, there is faint desire to hold those institutions criminally or civilly responsible.
4
So there is a thee-person, three-year government commission charged with investigating this and reporting by early 2018. It seems like the first line of investigation should have been an immediate, robust, forensic one. (The commission's technical group has consulted with Argentine experts--but it sounds like everything is still in the "theoretical questioning," not the "doing" phase.) If active forensics still have not begun, crowd-source them--and I guarantee the funds will flood in. Evil and abuse have been and will be found in all corners, not just Church, and not just Ireland--but we have a right to expect more from an institution that proclaims Christ as way, truth, and life. A "merely legal" response in no way suffices; Church hierarchy and Bon Secours don't get it.
6
It's actually more than a 3-person team: the MBHCOI has a number of individuals who have been seconded to work on this investigation from a variety of backgrounds. They have also been actively excavating at Tuam since March http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/significant-quantities.... Believe me, I'm not defending the Commission - as one of the more than 2,000 children trafficked from Ireland to the US and an advocate on this issue for more than 20 years, I'm skeptical of "Irish solutions to Irish problems" (see McAleese report on the Magdalene Laundries), which have proved little more than white-washing. But it's important that the facts be known about Tuam, the Commission, and the wider story at play here.
1
The image of those innocent children walking to school in those hob nailed boots will be imprinted in my head for ever. The collusion of so the called religious institutions, state and Garda Siochana (police) as well as teachers all intent on keeping the general population uneducated and down trodden extended well into the 1960's until such time the poor man's son was able to avail of secondary (high school) education and from there university changing the landscape of rural Ireland and the hold these institutions had on their people. Well done Mr. Barry -"go neiri go geal leat". Good luck.
11
Catherine Corless gives me hope ,during these times when money and power are what is worshipped. What compassion, integrity and a sense of justice she has.Thank you for telling us her story and thus the story of all those poor children and their mothers.The world needs more people like Catherine Corless.
15
Sure, this is a depressing revelation of Roman Catholic murderous abuse in Ireland, in reality.
But for me it's another assault on what I had considered the reality of the world that I'd formed growing up in an Irish Catholic family in the U.S. I'd even spent 5 years in a seminary intending to become a priest.
But the seminary itself was the beginning of the end of that grand illusion. Since leaving in 1968 I've learned of abuses by priests who taught there.
And the world itself it an assault on hope. Any who believe the immorality and unethical behavior expressed in this history is confined to Catholicism, or to Ireland, are laboring in an equally delusional representation of reality.
Consider how many human beings the United States has played a part in the deaths, maimings, traumatization, and dislocation of in the decades since World War II. Millions. Millions and millions.
And we've put into our White House a man completely capable of and willing to compound the death and destruction if it suits a fit of personality disorder.
Beware of drawing the wrong conclusions from the outrages of Tuam. Humanity is the crazy animal. Every religion, every culture, every nation, every ethnicity is capable of homicidal indifference.
44
Not since this Irish-American of French blood, as a child of ten, have I been so unsettled. The poster of children seen when I was at play, they were standing behind barbed wire with their heads shaven in striped pajamas, an introduction to The Holocaust.
'War' is a difficult English word for my friend from French Africa to pronounce. We have worked together in the Water Section of an international children's community but this is not war you will say.
It is about the plight of women world-wide and the neglect and abuse of children, while we parade under the banner of religion and others for the atrocities committed towards all of us in this existence of ours.
The holidays spent with my Irish American father in Co. Limerick where he was living in the early 60s, writing about the origins of Mankind, writing about The Indestructible Irish, writing about the case for the Extraterrestrial Origin of Man, it sounds shallow now.
Forwarding this to a French doctor, a Catholic nun where she has a pro-life clinic in Ireland to enhance the welfare and rights of women. She came to New York when the City was putting up a fight to save a young nightingale, the grand-daughter of a friend. All Souls Day on November 1 is when a light went out and the bells are now tolling for the Children of Tuam.
We are the Lost Souls. A damming discovery by Dan Barry, the endurance of Catherine Corless, it is at times like these that one might wish to go to the merry widow-maker.
1
That's right, and Trump caused it to rain today, right? /snort/
"Trump Derangement Syndrome" only helps the N.R.A. Because insanity requires self-defense.
Here is yet another revolting disclosure of the abuse of innocent children by the Catholic Church. It took all my powers of concentration to read the entire story. It made me sick to my stomach!
39
Wouldn't it be great if more churches, Catholic and Protestant, took to heart what Jesus is said to have actually taught during his life:
"At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become
as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.
But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea....
Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 18:1-10)
1
Stories like these, make me realize that Famin was not the only reason they left Ireland.
explains why the Irish are prone to melancholy.
15
And to drinking.
3
Is this article in the Sunday print edition, does anyone know? Page A1 contains the note that it’s in section D, but I can’t find it anywhere in the print edition
Thanks!
Michael
2
The main article is a special section in Sunday's print edition.
1
It's its own section in the print edition. Section D today, a "special report", consists entirely of this article.
1
Stunning.
9
The Catholic Church, for all its glorious cathedrals, and all the wonderful works of art commissioned for the glory of its God, must surely be one of the most evil institutions still in existence.
It will take more than Pope Francis to repair the vast damage it has done, and the inhuman acts it has perpetrated.
48
Because it is radically human, it indeed participates in evil. So does every human institution, as we are finding out, again and again.
The beauty of the Church, and the synagogue, and the ashram, and the dharma center, and the mosque, is the love that it manages despite our flawed, fallible human nature.
7
Thank you, Mr. Barry. No one could have done it better. Peace to all concerned.
24
" .... the deaths of nearly 800 “illegitimate” childrenat the since-demolished Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway, from 1925 to 1961."
These atrocities in my lifetime were perpetrated for decades by the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland against Irish citizens under their protection and care. And then ignored and denied. Of the manifold crimes against humanity perpetrated by the church over the past century this was surely the most shameful.
29
It is hard to pick the most shameful "crime against humanity" by the Catholic Church because they commit so many. That said, lot's of competition from all the other patriarchal organized crime outfits promising salvation for unquestioning servitude and obedience.
7
Hello Dan:
My roots are in Tuam and I have family there today. I've known of this since nearly the beginning. Thank you for your beautiful writing of such an ugly, sad story.
51
I read with horror the sorrowful NYT report of The Lost Children of Tuam.
With further reading, I discovered the pharmaceutical experiments done on these children.
Of all of the Catholic atrocities, perhaps this one troubles me the most.
As a 65 year old cradle Catholic (who once considered joining a nunnery) I have read the stories since 1982, many of those years in denial.
Time marched on and I began, finally, to accept the truth.
I think it is time that we enforce the separation of Church and State in this country.
With that said, I sincerely ask why Cardinal Timothy Dolan still sits at the head of the annual White House Correspondent’s Dinner.
Let’s call a spade a spade and withdraw his yearly invitation.
Cardinal Dolan is a pompous spectacle, indeed.
Remove him and any other Catholic from this most auspicious annual event.
Do it for the children.
71
The problem is, unfortunately, that all religions are (almost by definition) irrational and without empirical support. Once you renounce reason the path to cruelty, even by kind people, is short.
1
I couldn't agree with you more; let them be judged by the company they keep.
Actually, do it also for the rest of humanity. As this story and the earlier report and stories of its defense of abusive priests seem to show, Ireland is a microcosm of the outsized hypocritical and destructive influence of the Catholic Church.
1
Thank you for this haunting and beautifully written piece. Few of us are without some guilt for treating those who are weaker or less fortunate than us with less than the compassion that every human being deserves. Coming to terms with that guilt is not an easy thing to do. Ms. Corless is a hero in my eyes because what she does is not for fame or glory but to help heal herself and perhaps heal her country.
44
Too bad the prose was so inflated. An example:
"Respect for burial grounds runs deep, with crowds gathering in their local cemetery once a year to pray as a priest blesses the dead within. This reverence for the grave may derive from centuries of land dispossession, or passed-on memories of famine corpses in the fields and byways, or simply be linked to a basic desire expressed by the planting of a headstone..."
A bit more research would have eliminated the portentous speculation. It is standard practice in Catholic countries on All Hallows Day to tidy up the graves and then wait for the priest to give a blessing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allhallowtide
That's all.
Editor’s note: This comment has been anonymized in accordance with applicable law(s).
6
Nick,
You are wrong. Two years ago, I was in County Meath researching my Irish roots. While there, I was told that the annual "blessing of the graves" would be held at a local but now abandoned cemetery in the middle of a beautiful field and near a lovely crumbled manor house. This was in August 2015. Because I thought I might meet some of descendants of my family, I accepted the invitation to attend. It was a beautiful and moving event, attended by at least 3 dozen residents from the surrounding countryside. It turned out to be the highlight of my trip.
To reiterate, this did not occur on All Hallows Day, but on an average Tuesday in August, and was attended by many of the local residents of the area. It was beautiful and I cannot believe it was an exception to what must happen all across Ireland.
Your sweeping and generalized rejection of the author's characterization of how the Irish treat their dead is entirely wrong.
8
That is your perspective sir. It need be everyone else's. Let the writer write his piece. Or his peace.
You are wrong. The tradition of the Blessing of the Graves is separate from All Hallows Day and is, as far as I know, unique to Ireland. In my family's area of North Leitrim, the grave blessings happen during the summer weekends, and it is common for people to participate in very well attended Blessings of the Graves many weekends in a row...last summer I attended one for the local parish graveyard along with hundreds of residents, then the following weekend there was another Blessing of the Graves for a much older, disused graveyard where my great-grandfather was buried (again, attended by nearly a hundred people), and the next weekend was a blessing for a graveyard about 5 miles up the road where my great aunts are buried. Each of these was a big community event around which people made their weekend plans; it was unheard of for a grave to be unattended if family members still lived in the area.
Maybe don't jump in to criticize when you don't know what you're talking about.
1
I read the story before rising this morning, on a tablet, the autumn sun lighting the yard outside. I was shaken so powerfully. If any story has had more meaning for me in recent years, I don't recall it. I'm half Irish. My Dad's forebear emigrated supposedly just before the Famine hit. I will guess that that timing, as told, was an attempt to disconnect from a deep shame the Irish must have felt as victims of Britain's agricultural and land ownership policies in Ireland. My Dad's life was marked by great devotion, shame (usually for nothing) and a rebellious, yet pure and honest, love of freedom, both physical and spiritual. He would have been moved to deep sorrow, were he still alive to read this story. Thanks for the sensitive writing of it, for the background work that went into it, and for the presentation of images interleaved with the text. These helped this reader stay to the end.
36
A beautifully written story. Thank you for writing it.
12
Thank you and Mrs Corless for presenting this painful and complex story to the readers of the NY Times with such compassion and clarity.
31
Yes, you obviously listened and learned. This is a powerful article written about a sad and tragic history. As in Irish history, so many sad stories. But you have shown another strong Irish tradition, that of a well-told tale by a gifted story-teller. My thanks to you and I hope I have a chance to read more of your work in the future.
23
Thank you so much for your work on this brilliant piece. I have been following this story since it first came out and it breaks my heart. We must remember it and keep it in the light.
10
The picture presented by the Irish church is one of sinful women gone astray, deserving of chastisement and not fit to interact with true Christians. My first thought was about how many of these children were conceived in love and how may through rape -- something we will never know. Many of these women were being punished for having been sexually abused. During this era what was the church policy regarding the fathers?
36
Church policy? Sure, and aren't they just being lads? I wonder how many of the fathers were priests.
8
I wondered the exact same thing: how many of these pregnancies resulted from rape? I'll bet many, many of them. But for government and church administrators (and Irish society at large?) that probably didn't matter, as women took the blame when they were raped as well.
The men involved in creating these pregnancies apparently got off scot-free. The misogyny is breathtaking.
2
The policy was: boys will be boys. Don't tempt them.
2
This was a stunning article, and I commend the author for it. But I can't help being irritated at the gendered way in which he describes Catherine Corless here and in the article itself. For example, she's "a determined woman with no press or academic credentials"; "that woman with no credentials, a gardener and grandmother whose determination had unearthed a troubling part of the past and forced a national reckoning." There are other examples, and they all remind me of the tendency of obituaries of female scientists (yes, in the Times, too) to emphasize a woman's domestic life over and almost above her extra-domestic achievements. Is there really a need to tell the reader over and over and over again that Ms Corless has no formal credentials? Reading her article "The Home" I was struck by the granularity of her research and the clarity of her prose. I have a Ph.D. in the humanities, a fact that's only relevant as context in noting that her work could easily be published in a peer-reviewed academic journal. Why does her lack of formal qualifications have to be emphasized so persistently, while the quality of her historical inquiries is left unsaid? Her practical impact is obvious, and is likely far greater than that of many academic historians. I seriously wonder if Dan Barry would have described a male 'amateur' historian in the slightly surprised, every so slightly condescending tone he uses to sketch Catherine Corless.
76
Alas, it is academia itself which ostracizes those who don't own the "right" credentials and job descriptions, as I'm sure you have seen. The emphasis on Mrs. Corless' lack of the expected academic credentials emphasizes the fact that Irish and other academics ignored this tragic history for decades. It took a kind, conscientious, gifted amateur, undertaking the task for love and not for career, to uncover the hidden history that had lain under academics' noses for at least 50 years. Sadly, I doubt that any peer-reviewed academic journal would have considered her work for publication regardless of its obvious merit, quality, and importance. And yes, that's another facet of misogyny: the gifted woman who doesn't have the credentials that male-dominated fields demand and is therefore ignored. Of course, even if those women make it into academia, with the desired "credentials", they are often ignored and overlooked there too.
2
I think the author's description of Ms Corless gives the ordinary person hope that they too can make a difference in the world. You don't need a PhD to question, to research, to present the truth.....whether you are a female or male.
2
"I seriously wonder if Dan Barry would have described a male 'amateur' historian in the slightly surprised, every so slightly condescending tone he uses to sketch Catherine Corless."
Dan Barry is one of the best reporters in the USA, and reporters report facts and reality, without "fear or favor."
If you think you're a victim, you will always be a victim, and be a drain on others. Think about that.
Mr. Berry, another great job, just like the hard-working and self-supporting female musician, 16, who got the college scholarship in music. Journalism that matters.
2
This was a very moving story. Thank you so much for the story and the way you presented it; without sparing anyone but also without false sentiment. And thank you for the ways in which you give credit to Ms.Corless.
21
what a chilling story of how religion can sometimes commit such heinous crimes. I couldn't put the article down until I had finished with tears in my eyes for those poor little innocent children and their dispossed mothers.
20
“[T]he chasm of presumption and misunderstanding between Irish America and Ireland is as deep as the Atlantic.” Well said. I wish more Irish Americans realised this. As a Newfoundlander, I thought I was mostly Irish, until I moved to the UK and discovered I was nothing of the sort.
A staggering story, sensitively told. Thank you. For those who wish to know more about today’s Ireland, watch the link to the Late Late Show in the original article, and in particular the subsequent link in which Catherine Corless receives a well-deserved (and unusual) standing ovation. What took my breath away was the host’s question to her, when he asked plainly, “What’s wrong with this country?” We should all ask this question. The misogyny and pain are not limited to Ireland.
33
Catherine Corless is a hero. Your story is beautifully written. Thank you both.
The suffering of these children and their mothers is haunting.
47
A beautifully written piece about a shameful time in Irish history. I read it and was glad I was adopted in the United States. Had I been born in Ireland, my life would have been much different. Those poor children and mothers.
Thank you for writing this, Dan.
10
Mr. Barry, that was an amazing article and so terribly sad. Thank you for delving into this. I wish peace and reconciliation for the families who experienced so much loss, and my appreciation goes out to Catherine Corless, a quiet woman who would simply not give up. I am determined to find some way of working this into my curriculum....
15
"The Lost Children of Tuam" mirrors Ireland: extreme sadness, told in great beauty of expression.
11
I'd like to see the Times explore how these revelations have changed the culture of Ireland, how the Irish public has reacted, and how the Roman Catholic Church exists in Ireland today.
8
Go after the Powers in Authority and their accomplices responsible for this tragedy. Brian Moore left Northern Ireland at an early age and moved to Canada. He wrote about the terror and damage of Irish Catholicism and Graham Greene declared that he was the greatest living novelist of his time.
A sanctuary garden in remembrance of The Lost Children of Tuam to remind not only the Irish but Humanity of the suffering we are capable of inflicting on each other, and of the compassion and care of Ms. Corless, and others of lonely passion, who will never tolerate the silence of lies and deceit.
13
eventually a sanctuary garden or other remembrance may be appropriate. However, memorials allow States to conveniently close the lid on issues they'd rather not tackle. Let's hold them accountable to do a thorough investigation and collection of the actual historical narrative (not just the Church or State's, but living individuals), and work toward a true restorative justice, before we start talking about memorials.
1
The more important question is not the one that the first paragraph poses - what do we owe the dead? It's what does anyone owe a living newborn child or toddler? And the answer is - in addition to food, clothing, and shelter - loving care. Notwithstanding the importance that Catholics give to burial in "consecrated ground," this tragic story, as told in the two articles on Tuam, focuses too much on what the nuns did with the bodies and too little on what they - and the communities where these institutions were located - did not do for these children when they were alive.
28
Thank you. You're exactly right. Having advocated on this issue for more than 20 years, there's a much wider story behind Tuam. And while "800 babies in a septic tank" is certainly guaranteed to grab the attention of any reader, the more important questions are how and why these children died, not their manner of burial. Cillini graves (unmarked graves of unbaptised children), cistern/catacomb-style burials (particularly by French orders like the Bon Secours) and other mass gravesite dot the landscape of Ireland and have for centuries.
Catherine Corless gave us their names, their ages and their manner of death. That should be of concern to any human being. And even those of us still living bear the scars - physical and psychological - of that lack of care. This isn't past history. Many of us still live it, every day,
1
I'm glad this story is being kept alive. It grieves me to know about the fate of these poor unfortunate innocent children. Perhaps remembering such institutional cruelty to both the unmarried mothers and their babies may help avert the same being repeated someplace else in the present or the future. I do hope so.
People like Ms. Corless is the kind of person whom I regard as a true leader. The work of people like her inspires, and gives one a glimmer of hope in the cynical, fake-news, self-promoting world we live in.
20
Barry's article was simply astonishing. His investigation into Tuam was richly researched and movingly told. I was especially impressed with the Ms. Corless' brave, indefatigable and prodigious research into the deaths of these children.
Perhaps for these children "Jesus wept."
18
I think this was the longest news article I’ve ever read at one sitting, but I couldn’t put it down. Characters, setting, and poignancy.
6
What an incredible and heart-wrenching work of journalism! Thank you Mr. Barry and The New York Times! Kudos!
9
This is such an important, well-written story. Furthermore, feeling numbed by our (U.S.) reality-TV politics--characterized by continuous blatant lying and almost unbelievable greed--I nearly cried over the humility, honesty, and authenticity of Catherine Corless. Thank you so much for bringing her and her mission to light here. How can we can donate to her ongoing research in tracking down others' lost relatives?
40
" .. Furthermore, feeling numbed by our (U.S.) reality-TV politics--characterized by continuous blatant lying and almost unbelievable greed .."
Yes, the Kennedys and Clintons are really full of themselves, aren't they?
Great reporting, Mr. Barry. Keep it going.
Oh please, give me a break. I long for the lies & greed of the Kennedys and Clintons. What we're seeing now is in a league of its own. We are teetering on the brink of becoming an authoritarian regime.
2
As a surgeon who performs clinical research in a Children’s Hospital, I’m occasionally frustrated with the institutional regulatory process that requires a multiple page informed consent document just to have a child submit a urine sample for a clinical trial. Reading an excellent article such as this, that among other atrocities, exposes the awful history of my profession performing research on a highly vulnerable population of children, helps me understand yet again why all this oversight is so keenly necessary.
43
Behind most annoying and "frivolous" regulations, there is an abundance of horror stories. That is why, most times, these regulations came about: critical mass.
1
this mournful story is a cogent illustration of why liberal political culture became the predominant force it has been. the good old days were pretty awful..We forget that at our peril. Bless these broken hearted souls, and those who have exposed this .
10
Have just completed reading and listening to the article you wrote - and now saw this 'insider' addition as well.
Ireland - such tear trenched soil.
I salute you for writing about this grief that must be still haunting the atmosphere there and drips into the waters of the land.
One can fathom the depths of this agony by listening to what is said ... and what is not said.
The pauses, the glances that drift.
I salute Ms Corless and her husband/family for having restored some measure of dignity where so very many have failed. Thank you.
Thank you from the depths of my heart for bringing this to wider attention (i was not aware of this Tuam home 'care')
... like you - i could listen and learn. you and everyone else who was involved in this article made this possible.
Thank you.
“The past is never dead. It's not even past.”
(William Faulkner's Requiem for a Nun)
13
The story was outstanding. Congratulations on the work. It leaves one terrible question unanswered: how could they? I urge Mr. Barry to attempt a followup article that answers that question or at least provides the perspectives of the institutions and people involved, within their historical context. I don't fault the article for not attempting to answer that question, as an article attempting an answer would likely be several times longer than this story -- or would require writing a book.
8
I can't thank you enough for your article on Tuam though it left me stunned at the horror faced by these children and their mothers. You listen and learned well.
Ms. Corless is definitely one of the brave ones of this earth who speak out for those who have been silenced. I can't even imagine what it cost her.
Thank you Ms. Corless.
22
This story left me with anxiety and so many tears for the babies and their discarded mothers
8
What is the highest civic honor Ireland awards? Whatever it is, Catherine Corless deserves it.
Ireland, which has for some time adequately acknowledged their long painful history of being colonized, losing their language, suffering through famines and losing so many generations to emigration, has now just recently begun to confront the rampant misogyny in their history.
As an American I want to know how my own nation can learn from this? For we too need to confront our very painful history in a myriad of ways in order to be a whole nation. Perhaps we can start by atoning and making reparations to the First Peoples of this Continent and the descendants of enslaved Africans? Perhaps we can also confront our own misogyny by closing the persistent and pernicious wage gap?
15
Dear Dan
I feel compelled to write to you to thank you for this piece. This story is so important as is the incredible commitment and perseverance of Catherine Corless. I spoke about this at an international conference this summer and felt a wash of shame the next day for somehow exposing Ireland and our cultural wounding. We need people like Catherine Corless to speak up on behalf of those who had no voice and we need people like you to shine a light on the stories that get lost between the cracks. You have captured this moment in time with beauty and integrity. Onwards
13
Kat Scott, I want to reassure you that you should not feel shame for exposing such heinous failings in one's culture. Exposure is an act of deepest respect for victims and a hope that your society can recognize its failings and compensate the victims. For Aboriginal / Native Americans in the U.S. and Canada the malevolent conspiracy of government and churches to intentionally destroy the cultural and family lives of involuntary students is barely known. The number of children's deaths in governmentally mandated residential schools over several decades in Canada alone is estimated to be 50,000. Yes. Genocide. I have a friend who went to one such school near Quebec. As an elementary school child, she spent much time potato farming under the field supervision of nuns who threatened to make shirkers go away "where no one would ever find them". As I mentioned in another comment, the award winning documentary "Unrepentant: The Canadian Residential Schools Documentary" on YouTube is another piece of this dreadful universal story. Numerous survivors of the U.S. Indian Affairs schools have similar stories though I have not yet read or seen how many children's lives were lost. Social and religious self-delusion about superiority and a divine right to power lead individuals to do heinous things. This history needs to be widely taught and understood wherever the atrocities have happened. How else will we condemn what has happened, make amends, and prevent future villainy?
2
No one judges Ireland or the Irish.
After all, Ireland also gave the world Catherine Corless and women like you who are so compassionate that you take on shame you did not earn.
3
Wonderful writing on this story of Catherine Corless and her dedication to truth and justice. I was so glad to see her receive an award this week for her work:
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/galway-historian-catherin...
6
Thank you Dan Barry for this sad, though necessary history of the nearly independent Ireland.
In reading this special report, we need to keep in mind the differences between Ireland then and USA now. Until recently, Ireland had two masters, church and state. During much of the Tuam time, these were de Valera and the Church.
Here in USA, we take for granted the separation of Church and State enshrined in the first amendment of the US Constitution. But, not so in Ireland during the 1925-61 period, where the de facto power of the Church in day-to-day matters was absolute, while the worst sins were those against the sixth commandment. So, in some sense, the system worked, keeping the 'worst' offenders out of general society. But, at what cost!
Shortly after WWI, Eugenio Pacelli, later St. Pope Pius XII, called the Church, 'the perfect society.' A half century earlier, the English Lord Acton noted, "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.' With respect to this story, I leave it to you to decide which saying is correct.
5
Yes. This is a deeply moving report, and I have no personal connection with Ireland or even with the dreadful situations presented in the story. My only connection is my intuitive sense that all of us, every human being, alike, regardless of age or culture, deserves respect throughout our whole lives and in every condition, and dignity in death. Every culture has its own way of bestowing dignity and respect, and probably also its own way of throwing people away. This article is a moving appeal to all of us to help one another do better. It also reveals the beneficial power of anger when it finally comes to a person like Ms. Corless, as well as the decency of the many people whose whole lives have been bent and broken and now seek most of all to know -- it is amazing that a person with such experiences is not hate-filled or driven completely mad. What wonderful creatures people are; we need to remember that and keep it always in mind.
8
Thank you Dan, Kassie and Megan for that beautiful and devastating piece of investigative journalism and for bringing to light the shy hero Mrs.. Corless. Like many in the US I share Irish heritage. We must continue to mine history and try to learn its lessons to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. Thank you.
4
Dear Mr. Barry, Thank you for your work. You are joining the ranks of numerous reporters who bring critical attention to deranged social behaviors that have infected communities and countries around the world. The brave Catherine Corliss is to be honored as she seeks recognition for the children and mothers who were victimized by obscene religious and societal norms. Those who claimed superiority took it upon themselves to destroy their victims' emotional, familial, and most reprehensibly, physical lives. The silent witnesses and apologists for such systematic abuse are equally guilty. Congratulations on a well-written breathtaking story interwoven with haunting video and photos. I write not only to laud your work, but to make certain that you know about the Canadian residential schools for aboriginal children legally and unwillingly taken from their homes. The estimate of children who died in those schools is 50,000. Kevin Annet, an Anglican minister exposed the barely hidden secrets of the government-sponsored, Catholic- and Anglican-run schools. His work, similar to that of Ms. Corliss, was viciously condemned. The award-winning "Unrepetetent: Canada's Residential Schools Documentary", available on YouTube will most certainly expand anyone's comprehension of the evil committed by those who are certain of their own superiority. It is gut-wrenching. Numerous U.S. and Canadian residential school survivors have stories to tell in this and other YT videos on the topic.
28
This is such a tragic story, written with a depth of emotion that I’ve been feeling all day. The faces of those children, so sweet and vulnerable, make me want to weep for the injustice of it, for them and the young women, their mothers, who were offered no alternative but shame and servitude and a lifetime of punishment for bringing a life into the world outside of the sanctions
of the Catholic tradition, Respectibility was such a fragile thing and might be lost in a moment then the course of one ‘s life was determined.
For many of the children of these women, under the care of the good sisters, it was even worse. The treatment of them could be considered sadistic but the sisters convinced themselves that children born “in sin” deserved no better.
I couldn’t help but relate the prevalence of. religiosity today in this country, which I do not conflate with spirituality and benevolence, and the harsh positions towards people in need put forward by many of our elected officials with the support of constituents who seem to be unable to feel empathy and compassion. Like the Irish Sisters they use religion as a cudgel to control those they deem as undeserving.
The history of the human race is fraught with tragedy, this is another story of how that happens. But I am so grateful to Catherine for telling it, because now I know it and others know and for many of us these children and their mothers matter.
10
It is a blessing to hear of a woman with such compassion that she had to pursue a terrible, all too human, tragedy.
Many of those involved thought they were doing the right thing, perhaps the saddest telltale of all.
Catherine Corless was indeed doing the right thing.
9
This chilling story gives testimony to a truth: the right to life is more than merely the right to be born. What life did these children have?
16
"an uncommonly long newspaper article"
Yet, you did take the reader through the complexity of the history of these homes and the lives that matter still today.
Bravo to you and Ms. Corless.
8
Such a moving and powerful piece written by Dan Barry, I greatly admire the dedication and courage of Ms, Corless in her effort to try and discover the truth of what happened to the children behind these walls in Tuam. The 796 children that died there were all tragedies, But thanks to Ms, Corless they will not be forgotten and this horrible practice will never be repeated in Ireland and elsewhere,
3
All are not born equal in the ever shifting perspective of understanding. I grew up in the Catholic church that permitted these and other abuses. An altar boy spouting Latin that he did not understand for the supposed grace of God. Priests, who did good work; Priests who were in awe of the powers they were given; Priest who were angry, difficult and frightening. The presence of the eternal curiously absent.
4
Lovely writing but in the service of a story already told. I read it all and enjoyed it, which might be the point. But I kept waiting for something new.
And the sort of epilogue about the Muldoons didn’t work. What does it mean? Who wrote it? And, more importantly, what purpose did it serve at the end of an otherwise coherent tale?
3
Yes, already told , yet not widely known. If one more person learns of this, that is to the good.
2
After reading these comments, I have to agree with you.
1
I've been telling it for the better part of 25 years (and living it for 57). And every conference, private group, or journalist I tell brings me another pair of eyes and ears unacquainted with the history. I'll keep telling it, until we stop disempowering women and children, and using class, money or religious attitudes as excuses to do so.
2
Ms. Corless' brilliant writing and determination are even more impressive upon realizing that both are driven by her love, compassion, kindness and empathy. A heartfelt thank you to this amazing person. That not one person in authority during those decades put a stop to the obvious systematic abuse of children is reprehensible.
10
Our world is sadly filled with past and ongoing atrocities. I say sadly because we appear to have learned not how to fix them but rather how to continue them. In the cases of "The Lost Children of Tuam" and the "Magdalen Laundries," we are reviewing past history and in a progressive and forward thinking world the lessons learned would resonate, but that does not appear to be the case.
The tragic stories coming from the Boco Harum kidnappings are just one of the current examples of this tragic and apparently unstoppable abuse of humans worldwide.
Our whole world is suffering and with no relief in sight.
9
Mr Barry can be proud of his work. Great writing. Sadly about terrible events in Irish history. But Ms Corless, a wonderful admirable Irish woman, gives hope.
6
Your writing is beautiful as you faithfully and fully told this important story.
Thank you.
2