Tuam and Ireland’s shame: unedited interview with Catherin Corless – Blog

Youll Donuttin
my grandmother was raped at 14 put in one of these homes, they give the child away but distant relatives agreed to take him on in england and raise him for a sum of money, she spent a year there after she gave birth pleading to be brought home, she went home to face her attacker who had just been going on with his life, she was advised to go work somewere away she got work in the city and settled here, she never entered a church again apart from childrens communions etc that had to be a done thing, when speaking on it which she never did her face would say it all and all she would say about it was the rats that crawled her bed the crying and the pleading to go home, she met up with her son 40 years later, these nuns have alot to answer for
Linda Dobson
I was a”home” kid, and always treated differently………. I’m 73 now, and To this day, I never feel that I’m equal to anyone else!
dromgarvan
Thank you for posting these and congratulations to Catherine Corless.
Philip Thomas
Deeply moving and powerful interview. Thanks for posting.
Nick H
Horrifying.. I grew up in Ireland during 1960’s/70’s. The Church was all powerful in the country even then. Many Priests & nuns were Psychopathic and Sadistic. I have no doubt the children were abused, neglected, deliberately hurt and possibly even murdered. We need the Police to investigate and bring charges against individuals & religious organisations… Monsters. Thank you for this interview.
Faithless Hound
It’s as if the Church believed that the “Right to Life” ended at birth.
Lee
So how did the children die? Were they killed, starved to death, beaten, raped? The church could get doctors to say anything in that time. This is the question that should be asked. The Catholic church committed genocide on the First Nations people in Canada to the tune of 500,000. The stories are horrific. Horrible Evil Women and Men. HOW DID THESE CHILDREN DIE?!
Lorraine Lock
Don’t let the sweet haunt you. Your excellent research and tenacity on this very sad affair is something to admire. Sending love
Adrian Fell
Brave woman who didn’t stop to get to the truth. God Bless!
DerickE
Where there’s Religion, there’s EVIL!
Green Dragon
Thank you for the compassion in what is such a terrible story. I sincerely hope that they and you, find peace.
Shell T
I have looked at several of these stories=Mother/Baby homes and Laundries. It amazes me that the catholic church had in it’s service nuns and priest that partook in these sinister things and none of them will step forward with a truth. Make you wonder what kind of people became nuns and priest and where the hell they came from. None of them want to loose their “pensions”. So it is better to die with the knowledge that they particapated in this ABUSE of their fellow humans. What kind of church is this?? Of course having grown up in America I have only recently found out about these things in Ireland. Oddly though the strange catholic thinking was one I grew up with. The catholic faith = religion is entirely legallistic /void of a kind Creator. This sad knowledge only confirms this sad ugly truth about catholism. I personally can not abide in this horrible faith. My heart goes out to the multitude of abused women and children.
Inca Moran
“Irish people always pride themselves on strong family and social relations….” Yeah, just as long as they can show something off to a neighbour. But the minute a teenage girl gets pregnant she’s shipped off, sometimes for ever, because her parents care more for their neighbours than they do for their own child. Nice. Not.
Maureen Beck
SHAMEFUL – The Catholic “church” has NO morality to stand on.
Orla Walsh
What an amazing woman. Well done
 
xx vikkii xx rowe
My nan grew up near one of the homes in cork and she told my mum once about it and she said it was awful the things she used to hear 😥but no one ever spoke about it 😥
Laura Marta
Thank you for what you are doing for these forgotten children.
Bride Colbourne
It is hard to believe there are people who dare to do thumbs down on an exposure like this, Those must be someone’s who were a part of the evil deeds !
Lisa Howard
Bless you for bringing this to light..bless your hart
Laura Halvorsen
poor precious mums and babies. the irony is the nuns were probably committing scores of more sins and in their hypocrisy.. deranged hey? my family experienced something similar but my mum listened to God so my older sister could live and my dad married my mum in the 1950s.. God bless this woman for her integrity and care for the remains of these babies! yeah i am crying thinking about what these babies went through in this world while they were alive. their families and the catholic institution ungodly!! But they’re with their creator who loves them and raised them in heaven!
Deborah Beaudoin Zaki
Horrific! I remember as a Catholic child in the early 1960s at Catholic school; how cruel and abusive the nuns were. I cannot believe how abusive the nuns were on part time basis; I cannot even imagine on a full time basis! Also the Catholics had “limbo”, and stated “the dead children that would not go to heaven”; even as a child I remember thinking how cold and evil they were to be talking so non mercifully and demonic against dead children. Those that were praying in churches never even thought to check on or help out these children, what about the teachers of these children? This story breaks my heart.
sin nombre
Heartbreaking. Thank you for posting
Redeemed Of The LORD
Even in movies nuns are depicted as evil or wolves in sheeps clothing so to speak
Bride Colbourne
That dreadful church taught pain and fear not love ! It’s being exposed because we are entering a period of Love and all atrocities will come to the front! Naught but the truth prevail!
Clare Glynn Chitan
The Innocence We cry for you ,our Celtic babies Asleep in that deep Dark pit We will Light you a candle of hope That will guid you, and keep you safe We will Morn for you ,our babies Weep for your little lost lives For Your innocent young souls In those lonely harsher times Cry out for their anger and sadness Rant and rave for their war Build a memory in their garden With ,a cross for every soul We will go there to pledge our alligance We will grieve ,for their mothers great loss We will lead you ,out of the darkness And honour your lives , with our love ©@lladybird Clare Glynn Chitan
Sheryl Crowe
Heartbreaking. Thank you for sharing.
StLennyBruce
And this headline from the 9th of March. ” NO delgates showed up to open up a discussion. Dáil debate on Tuam mass grave delayed due to near empty chamber No TDs showed up? No one? Really.
violet in oz
Time to sue the catholic church out of existence .
Irene Freller
Thank you I’m so those pleased the little children have voice. God bless you.
Diana Woods
UGH! I love this woman.
C T
Nothing has been done for the justice of all the people who have been wronged by the Catholic Church, nuns and priest in the Catholic Church still get to live in luxury, they have cleaners, chefs and they live in big buildings in areas where only the wealthy can afford. I think their buildings and lands should be sold to pay for the hurt and pain their organisations have caused over the year’s
Hairy Mary
A little knowledge is a dangerous (and expensive) thing!
63angel
I was watching the movie Evelyn earlier and when I found out it was true, it broke my heart and then I started reading more about it. When I came across what happened, it brought tears to my eyes. Then I seen the story of the 80 yr old woman who found her 103 mother who is still alive, and then the mans story about how his sister died. Oh my goodness. So sad
kaiiana
It seems that its not these children that need to have their dignity given back to them, (via a plaque)… but the entire community of ireland who lived through these times when these things went on. Its the Irish community itself who lost their dignity. The Catholic church never had any.
Michael Craig
There was a home like this in Canada, they threw babies out to die in wood butter boxes. In 1947, a lightning strike burnt it to the ground.
Emmet Nolan
Catherine you are a blessing to all who love humanity……….thank you for outing this evil in Christ’s name amen . Grá
Ulster 1690
Never refer to the ‘Roman Catholic church’ as a christian church, which it definitely is not! What amazes me is why has it taken so long for this whole issue to come out? Why were there no whistle blowers at the time, or nearer to the time?
1234 Abcd
Excellent research now whats next for the people who were n charge?thank u for your hard work
Pete Behan
it’s horrific what happened and still happens to innocent children on this hypocritical country. I have found out the law is there to protect the abuser and punish the abused.
Tim Lambert
God bless this woman
Tammy Wines
My husband is from Mexico he told me his mother use to send him to the church for service he would run and play he hates that church !! My hubby said the nuns would slap the Hell out of him. To this day he hates the Catholic church.
 
James Corbett
Catherine she recive a Nobel prize for her work.
MM
Shame on these evil people who posed as good people. People who you are supposed to look up to and trust!
world learner what's happening
this happened in the 80s as well a young Irish catholic girl handed over her new born baby to us as foster parents in england to be adopted to caring parents who came and collected from us months later along with catholic adoption agency babies mum having spent the last few months of her pregnancy over here under the pretence of training in her proffesion it was hard to understand at the time but sincerely hope the baby had a better life over here and mum did not suffer
Zack Wilkinson
This is one of the major reasons why I’m an atheist
Blondepickle
Highly suspicious over 22 children a year? Sounds like something else could have been going on.
RST Sport
SAVE OUR SOULS from those who would save us.
Monolith
It is now time that Ireland should become a secular state. Having the government screw you over is bad enough but the government and church combined, well that is just too much.
Naomi Hukes
In the 1930’s anywhere in the world, if a girl got pregnant, they had to be hidden away, I’m in the U.S., and my aunt was one of them, and then her baby was taken away.
curtandoscar
Bravo to Ms Corless. She is a great heroine for what she did. So incredible that it took one woman to refuse to give up for the truth to be revealed. This should have been investigated and revealed by authorities, documentary filmmakers, historians. She was none of these things. Just someone who had a great moral sense, and was curious and determined. Thank you.
Carol Glynn
Wondering if my birth mother was in the laundry how can I get that information ???
Ed Burgz
The graveyard is right behind my house in tuam……the catholic church has shut ye up…this needs to be sorted out straight away…cover up
teltri
Why didn´t they kill the nurses with pieces of broken window panes or with any other heavy objects in the building?
Ruairi O'Ceallaigh
Thought I’d share a poem I think best encapsulates the horror of what happened, with a call for humanity: At Tuam “Among the hundreds of children who stare up at us from their septic tank is James Muldoon, who died in 1927 at the age of four months. At least he would never be forced to thank the Lord for mercies large or small. That cry to high heaven must come from Brendan Muldoon, who died in 1943 at a mere five weeks. A teenage nun bows before an unleavened host held up by a priest like a moon held up by an ash tree. In 1947 the eleven month old Bridget Muldoon, a namesake of the mother who would shortly give birth to me, has already distinguished herself as being a bit of a bother while Dermott Muldoon, three months old in 1950, is about to join the ranks of my foster-sisters and foster-brothers in that unthinkable world where a wasp may recognize another wasp’s face and an elephant grieve for an elephant down at the watering place. “ Paul Muldoon
Eric Kennedy
This makes me sick! Shame on the Catholic Church!
Ellegirl
After watching, I just feel sick about the evil that took place in these places. Satan, and the Catholic Church seem to be one and the same. The church has taken almost everything in the bible and the opposite, Gods rules and laws never changes. So anyone who feel that they are on the level of Jesus, is wrong. There is NO, mediator between God and man. So how the priest feel that if you go to confession, that you will be forgiven, WRONG! you can only be forgiven if you pray to God, through Jesus and ask for forgiveness, and you must accept Jesus as your savior. God bless you all, and keep you safe. Love, kindness, forgiveness, helping others, these are what’s important.
susique333
The convent laundy work houses with the “fallen” girls who slaved for free as penitence for their sins (and to hide them away from society) are some of the saddest stories I’ve read. 🙁
Johanna
May God bless you for bringing up the truth of this .This children are shurely in Heaven.People should pray for their mothers and more for their fathers and families who were responsable.
Marcella Morales
espero que con la investigacion que se esta haciendo gracas a esta señora muchos puedan encontrar a sus hermanos y familiares, niños que fueron enviados a los Estados Unidos y la investigacion siga hasta alla por medio de fundaciones e instituciones que se sumen a la busqueda y aunque ya de edad puedan abrazar a sus hermanos.
Nelsia Loraine-Smithh
cruel cruel world we live in…..
Sophie Starseed
Religion is the bane of society. Religion was introduced for the purpose of control by fear and guilt.
Moneca Savoie
To be fair to those nuns, they were severely under-staffed and under-funded, so of course the children would be neglected no mater what they did. I think the problem lied in the belief system that the church perpetrated; that children born out of wedlock didn’t have the same worth as others born from married mothers. I have no use for the Catholic church.
AM L
How was the decision to treat children like that made? Who made that decision? When was that decision made? The State, at some level, colluded for sure, for the sake of convenience.
Christine Chin
May the soul of every baby and child who died be at Peace in the Merciful Blue Light of Mother Mary and the smiling Light of God the Creator. Return to the Source of Happiness. 👼. Including my own sister, Dolores.
Frances Venezia
The only logical conclusion that you that you can come to is that the nuns were systematically and intentionally killing the illegitimate infants and flushing them down the toilet or plumbing system, their bones ending up in a septic tank.
catherine donoghue
You’re making up for the sweet prank, even the offer of an imaginary sweet from another child could possibly have been a good experience for that child, the paper may have been gift enough considering how bad that child suffered at the hands of the nuns, only for you those babies would be gone & forgotten never recovered good on you you’re there light giver guiding them home.
Treasures of the Rainbow
These women, families and communities need to know that they are unconditionally loved and find healing in their hearts, so they can find peace. Carry hurt, pain and shame within throughout one’s life is not a life. x
David Sheridan
Because this women concealed the whole truth it has cost the Irish tax payer 21 million to set up and inquiry. She should be locked up for this.
bum5811
No one should try to defend the roman catholic church now that you watch this testimony. Still, if there is anyone does it, your mind is surely possessed with Demon
Joe Arkle
My mother was in a convent in Manchester the convent of the good shepherds she said they were strict but never suffered any sexual abuse and some of the sisters were nice and some weren’t I suppose she was lucky compared to what these poor women went through she was 12 went she went in in 1969 and 17 when she left all though she said her and the other girls had to work in the laundry but were also educated in the school and had Saturday afternoon off to go out and Sunday morning her friends were allowed out for a few hours after church so she had a lot more freedom then these poor women her father had to pay for her keep while she was there and was also well fed and went home for holidays and Christmas I can only assume that that home must have only been one of a few that treated there wards well I hope all these women get justice my mother is c of e and it was a Catholic services she had to attend to on Sundays but it never affected her in anyway she went on to have me and my two brothers also the reason she was there was she would not attend school when she was living at home with my lovely grandmother whom she doted on and my grandmother loved her very much as well they were like glue when she came home my mother and grandmother went everywhere together
Wendy Voerman
The catholic church is evil. Thank you for telling. It had to be told ‘ so EVERYBODY knows how bad the religion is. It creats monsters
Kingfloppynip The 3rd
right so according to the Irish times the babies where there and died due to medical conditions but according to the article it says that one Barry Sweeney said there where only 20 skeletons in there but that was 14 years after the home had been abandoned ..but if there is only 20 skeletons where are the rest of them if not buried in that hole?
Marie Downey
thank you for understanding
Roland Mitchell
today the 25/03/2017 I heard about it on BBC Radio 4 and dare I say I was not Shocked on what I Heard . I was sorry that things like this Happened even all those Years ago I think it was said that there were 850 Bodies of babies of which were uncovered; The way they spoke of these Babies Deaths were down to Either starvation or through Childhood Illnesses But the Truth I Believe is More sinister than this The Babies were Taken from their Mothers; where the Mothers were put to work within the huge Laundries of what there was in that time : Out of many of Those Children and Babies that were Given up for adoption was less than a few compared to how many that were Murdered: Nuns who were supposed to have taken Care of the Children showed them no Mercy (May he who is G-d of all creation Spew Fire upon them: I Said I was not shocked : The reason for this is that Over 200 years ago in Italy There was a Convent and Monastery of which were approx 100 yards apart; The Two Buildings Had had a Deep Shaft sunk deep into the Ground where there was a tunnel that joined the Two Shafts: One day some of the Tunnel Collapsed where it was too dangerous to Walk through: The Vatican approached a Builder and offered him Big Money to Carry out work within the Tunnel He would have to work in Secret where he and probably a few Monks would help him shifty the Vast amount of Earth of which had collapsed: The Tunnels timbers had rotted away and needed to be replaced: The Builder would Need to Replace the Timber . The Floor was too Soft for any Timbers to be Firmly Planted into the Ground So he had to Shovel down deeper into the Floor . But in doing so He unearthed a number of Bones that were of that of Babies ; These Babies in Many Cases were fossilised bones; He would Tell of his Finding to the Head of the Monastery where he was to be told that he should Not say a word to anyone where He’d get paid for Keeping it secret ; Day after day He’d Discover Many More: Some Babies of which he Found would still have the Flesh on their Bodies: Night after Night when People were in Bed He would be Wheeling Barrow loads of Corps’es onto a Dung Heap and Doing his best to Cover them up; One Night before he went to do Horrific Job, He went to the local Tavern and began to drink in excess , it was to this Point to where he Broke down and told of his discovery of over a thousand Babies of which were Possibly less than a day old: No one would believe Him until he Dragged a Guy to the dump and showed him the Corpses: The King would be informed and when he saw the Horrific sight He sent an army to Have Both Nuns and Monks Seized: But the Vatican sent Him a Message that if he valued his Life he’d better Do Nothing: It was however discovered that although the Nuns and Monks were supposed to Be in Celibacy: But in truth they were for over two Hundred Years of Both Buildings being Joined together Via a Sunken Shaft and Tunnel they were Committing acts of Unchaste and often having Orgies: Babies would be Born and often Buried alive
YASHAR-YA'OH YA'OHSHARAL
Those children where sacrificed to a demon in that land. 800 children is only the work of rituals and those who conduct them.
Mary Kelly
Some of the community, ie practising Catholics also are failing to acknowledge the dispicable behaviour of so-called Christians. Attitudes can be almost dismissive with a tendency to minimise the crimes. Maybe the 3rd secret of Fatima is being revealed and the end of Catholicism is nigh.
Livia M
If you look for love and compassion in the Catholic Church then you’ve come to the wrong place…
gemeinschaftsgefuhl
I think there is another modern unrecognized crime going on. Is anyone keeping a tally of all the children that die prematurely from abuse and or neglect after going home to unwed mothers into impoverished criminalized neighborhoods? It would be a mountain of bodies. Is anyone alarmed at the number of imprisoned that grew up in single parent homes? It seems that modern society celebrates unwed mothers as a form of freedom. No one seems very interested in how ruinous it is for so many children’s lives.
Phil & Andrea
Time to reopen this and remove each child. And make it right.
Jewel Stalcup
You do not put a human on a pedestal. The only one who can be put on a pedestal is God. Humans sin. Even the highest of “priest” make horrible mistakes.
Walter White
So the commission of inquiry didn’t find any wrongdoing by the nuns. There was a well kept area which is where the babies were buried. Her story is a hoax
MrRobynLover
nothing written because it was covered up. sick
roefully
Were there insurance policies taken out on these children by the Catholic Church? Did the church profit from their deaths?
Israr Hussain
Dear God. Please bless all the children . I hope that they all go to heaven. Dear God I hope that the women are all happy and have good life…
Locharald Johansson
We certainly hear you loud and clear but we can hardly hear the interviewed could you try to learn something about Sound before making video
David Morris
Government investigation over shows Burials in Tuam Mother and Baby home were handled , not by the nuns, but by Galway Council who supplied two workers to handle this (always had a problem imagining nuns digging large crypts!) There were SEVEN septic tanks around the home, so no matter where you buried anyone it was going to be near a septic tank.
Robert Bois le Duc
This is the same Catholic Church that condemned Galileo for saying that the Earth wasn’t flat & that it revolved around the Sun, this is the same Catholic Church that started the Crusades by promising “Sainthood” for those who served, this is the same Catholic Church that oversaw the Spanish Inquisition, this is the same Catholic Church that helped Catholic Nazis to escape from Europe, disguised as priests, this is the same Catholic church that moved pedophile priests from parish to parish & tried to hide the problem. I’m a former Altar Boy who woke up, saw the sins & greed of the church, & left it far behind…….
Winifred THOMPSON
I am going to state some thing now that will not be popular with many people. The Holy Roman Empire, that changed to the the Holy Roman Catholic Church, when the Roman Empire ended. The true day of worship of Almighty God is from Sundown on Friday evening to Sundown on Saturday evening. This is the day Almighty God blessed and hallowed. Emperor Constantine brought in,Sunday Worship, to enable the Roman Empire at that time to worship God Almighty on Sunday and not Saturday. This day of worship was to honour the sun god Ra. This is man’s Sabbath day, not Almighty God’s day. When the Roman Catholic Church took over from the Roman Empire, they held on to Sunday Worship and did not change back to Almighty God’s appointed day. The early christains did not change to Sunday Worship, the deciples did not change to Sunday Worship. St. Paul did not change to Sunday Worship, The Saturday or 7th day worship was kept for almost 400 years after Christ’s crucification. Even Christ himself obedience the true Sabbath day, and rested in the tomb till the first day of the week before he arose from the dead. Yes you can worship Almighty God on every day of the week, break bread on every day of the week, but only the 7th day is the concentrated day appointed by Almighty God himself. Why was this church not called instead The Holy Christain Church and keep the appointed times and seasons of Almighty God himself as the early Christains did, instead they called it the Holy Roman Church, and mixed with true Christainity the pagan system and symbols of Old Rome. It has taken me a long time to come to this conclusion, God’s laws cannot be broken by man, Only one commandment with the word REMEMBER in front of it. Remember to keep holy the holy sabbath day, the 7th day. Not the first. God bless you all. GREETINGS FROM NORTHERN IRELAND.
The Human Steroid
The angels garden is at the back of the old hospital
Sylwia Kurpie
How about suing the fathers of ‘bastard’ children? The mothers and the church have been shamed. But what about all those vile men who had impregnated women and left them to their own resources knowing what kind of fate awaits them. It’s time men were named and shamed for their reckless and, frankly, evil conduct! I know that it is an impossible task but even these days you find that men escape all shame and blame if they make a woman pregnant and abandon her! It’s about time we became equal…
Kathryn Sinclare
Praise freedom of speech. This is such a horror story all in the name of God. Shame, shame on them.
YASHAR-YA'OH YA'OHSHARAL
Who were these things that lived in that area during that time? Those who did that couldn’t have been man or women. Humans and demons conduct themselves like this!
xavier murphy
Wonder why this false story took off is a bit naive. This story was always being driven by the ever fanatical, irrational and hate-filled minds of anti-Catholics of all stripes. Bigotry is never pretty and cares not for truth.
MairinT
Who funded the convents for the care and upkeep of the children whose families did not want them? Who supplied food and clothing etc.? Girls became nuns and gave themselves to do voluntary work such as in those homes. Sounds like some of those little children were rejected by their families because they were disabled or epileptic…..what is the whole story?
sinead looby
church is finished
Max Kim Lowe
To blame u married women for lose morals by shaming then when they got pregnant is wrong. Where is the responsibility of the men who impregnate these women. Since most of these pregnancies were rape/ incest related and some of our if love outside the bond of marriage the responsibility should be on both parties. The Irish Government should have had sex education in order to prevent unplanned pregnancy.
Mary Connolly
They’re found rip
Saneman
There`s plenty of evil in that country still its now called a Hidden Evil. Google Gang stalking , its perfect for their self loathing and rife mental illness
Lorraine Leonard
could be mass murder….
Sheila Maclean
What a horrific warped way for a country to evolve with the complicity of the church – hard to believe so-called religion contributed to such barbaric treatment of girls, young women and their babies. Well done Catherin Corless for your hard work and determination to uncover the truth.
linda brown
It would be interesting to know the kinds of women who became nuns in Ireland. What was their motivation? Did these women have a real vocation or did they just want to get away from the work, drudgery and the incessant child bearing of marriage, in a world where contraception is forbidden by religion?……….Some of these older Irish families were huge, 8,9,10 children and more………Sometimes the convent was the only way out, whether they were suited to it or not.
David Whiteis
Pope Francis is a good man — but has he addressed any of this at all? Couldn’t he find the money to pay for the appropriate exhumations and DNA tests? Couldn’t he somehow issue an official apology — an act of contrition, so to speak, in the name of the Church — to the children and their mothers? One man, in one of these documentaries, said he wants an official written apology, he wants something he can stand over his mother’s grave to read to her, to tell her she committed no sin, she’s forgiven, she would have been a good mother. Would that be so difficult?
aughalough1
The fact is that it cannot and should not, try to defend all the abuse that has taken place, but take steps to make sure that it does not happen again.  As a point of interest there are several factors that most people never seem to consider about the state of the church, firstly Jesus Himself knew that there would be both good and bad men in His church He compared this to `Darnel(weeds) and Wheat` so in other words the church was never going to be 100% perfect.  Secondly, it is a fact that anyone who has tendencies to sexual permissiveness or to violence is never going to admit to such behaviour whenever they apply to become priests, so how could anyone know what such men will do in life.  Thirdly, priests do not become paedophiles, but paedophiles can and do become priests, normal adult males do not suddenly turn onto children, so why would a normal priest?  While even one case of abuse is one too many, most religious are good and decent people who are mortified at the actions of these others and they are suffering mental and even physical trauma.  Lastly, the Mass is the perfect praise of God(in and through Christ) and regardless of the current state of the church we are still morally bound to unite ourselves with Jesus in the sacrifice of the mass, do not forget that this same Lord died for the sins of all humanity
David Morris
https://www.irishcatholic.com/not-name-tuam-survivors-reject-calls-repeal-pro-life-law/ Not in our name’ – Tuam survivors reject calls for repeal of pro-life law Greg Daly November 30, 2017 abortion, ireland, Pro-Life, referendum, tuam Luke Silke and Greg Daly Former residents of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home have rejected what they see as attempts to use controversy surrounding the home to promote legislation permitting wider access to abortion in Ireland. One former resident, a prominent campaigner for the full story of Tuam to emerge, told The Irish Catholic that he wanted to challenge media outlets for “using the Tuam story – our story – my story as a platform from which to push for legal abortion”. The man, whose identity is known to The Irish Catholic and has appeared before the commission investigating the controversy surrounding Tuam, asked only to be identified as Patrick. He said he strongly disagreed with attempts by some pro-choice campaigners to link Tuam with a campaign to repeal the Eighth Amendment. “I disagree with that – that’s beyond a joke now,” he said. “They now want to offer abortion as a solution to ‘unwanted children’ – sure isn’t that me,” he said. “If abortion was legal back in the day, I probably wouldn’t be here. The people that were born in Tuam – sure we’d be the first ones aborted.” Insisting that each human life is “a life no matter what, regardless of circumstance”, Patrick said that “legalising abortion would be a huge step back into the dark past where the vulnerable and ‘unwanted’ children were discriminated against”. Link Attempts to link the pro-choice cause with Ireland’s historical mistreatment of unmarried mothers have been common at least since Galway Pro-Choice held a vigil in June 2014 for the Tuam mothers and babies. At the Citizens’ Assembly this March, one Tuam woman asked whether the Church had any credibility in making the argument that all human life matters, given what she called its “horrific track record” in caring for the vulnerable in Ireland, “specifically, in the light of the recent discovery of 780 babies’ and infants’ bodies thrown into septic tanks in Tuam”. A fellow onetime resident of the home, Walter Francis, joined Patrick in saying “We wish to see the Eighth Amendment retained in the Constitution. If abortion was legal back in the day, we mightn’t be here today.” A granddaughter of a woman who gave birth in the home in the late 1930s, who is also known to The Irish Catholic but asked simply to be known as Ger, said her grandmother, despite living to see stories about the home dominating national headlines in 2014, “always spoke of the positive experience she had while in the home, and had no bad words to say about the nuns who worked there. “It still baffles me how the media can run the pro-abortion narrative alongside the ‘dumped Tuam babies’ narrative without seeing any contradiction,” she said, adding that the Eighth Amendment guarantees protection to the most vulnerable. Confusion Similar confusion was expressed by Mary Moriarty, who in October 1975 entered the crypt on the home’s former grounds and who helps people raised in the home trace their relatives. Mrs Moriarty, who has also submitted evidence to the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation, said: “I cannot understand why this story is being used as a platform by some from which to campaign for the repealing of the Eighth Amendment”. Declaring herself to be “totally against abortion”, Mrs Moriarty urged adoption as an alternative, saying “there are people crying out for children”. Citing her own experience, Mrs Moriarty described how her “niece was told one time that her unborn child wouldn’t survive beyond birth and was advised to have an abortion. “She didn’t take the abortion anyway and that child is 15-years-old now and he’s as cute as a fox!” she told The Irish Catholic. Cllr Martin Ward, a former Mayor of Tuam and member of the Children’s Home Graveyard Committee who like Mrs Moriarty has given evidence to the commission, took issue with those who have suggested that the Church had been involved in covering up the deaths and burials of children at the home. “The media have also, most defiantly, been using the Tuam story to push for legalised abortion, something which many members of the committee disagree with,” he said. “In the past, the State hugely let down ‘illegitimate’ children,” he said, continuing, “let’s not let this happen again – please save the Eighth amendment”. The Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation is due to report next February.
JoAnne Barrett
we can all rejoice: the second they took their last breath, those babies went straight to their Lord Jesus’ waiting arms and His loving smile. Their pain and suffering are over. Stones and plaques are nice, beautiful but they’re for us living–not for the little children who are joyful in their heavenly home. we can just say: those memorials are a celebration for us here, showing respect at last for little lives lived and cut short in disrespect. They were innocents; they are martyrs.
john roche
It’s now come out that some of the items mentioned did not happen . Former residents say things were not like they were made out to be.
Beaver of the Meadow
What a truly horrifying thing to have happened those poor children and women lets hope ireland has learned something from this also Saffron Sugar in case you thought these comments were about english lessons they are not! When somebody finds they are losing an argument they turn into the grammer police, its sad as the original subject is forgotten!
Christine Still
This brave woman persisted, Thank You. Eight Hundred Babies, the Catholic nuns starved 800 babies and buried them in the septic system and, of course, the boys involved were never even corrected. I saw that in Irish culture. The man was PROUD if, when his girlfriend got pregnant, he didn’t “abandon” her! Bragging proud.
Kathy Mawer
Why would any human being be looked upon differently by any other human being? Nun or not? You are not telling me nuns never have sex or have had babies themselves and to view illegitimate babies differently? is just wrong. That to me is not a religion of love from God.
SHONA NIMHURACU
Im so sorry to hear you had to go through what you did.. You were failed by a system created to make you fail to limit your chances of happiness and to completely devoid and rob you of love or care in any way my mam was also failed by the same sadistic system but against all of their efforts you are here you all have survived and have created life from your life in the face of their bold efforts and cruel bully tactics to steal the soul from yee all… I have nothing but admiration and love and pride in the fact you are the pillars of the strenght of irish women… 💜 💜 💜
JoAnne Barrett
Our God the only living God tells us in His Bible: “call no one “father”. That title belongs to Me alone.” one may have to hunt for it, but it’s in there.     Lord God Almighty, Yahweh, thwart Your enemies in Jehoshua’s name and for Your righteousness sake and the innocents.
Producción Sexta
Dear colleague; We are a Spanish TV channel, La Sexta, and we would like to use some fragments of this YouTube video in our news: ¿Could you give us permission? Of course, we cite you. Waiting your answer, Best Regards
thomas clare
the roman catholic church is an abomination,religion is an excuse for brutality,being a decent human being has nothing to do with an organised cult
Janet Sides
My dad was Catholic. He always said nuns and priests were spawn of satan. None of his children were raised in the church.
Marie Conroy
To Mr. O’Donnell, people who judge and label others on the basis of religion are they themselves SICK and TWISTED. Don’t tar everyone with the same brush. I worked in the U.K. and I gave been frequently told that mother and baby units of a similar kind operated across the U.K. also from non catholic institutions. So don’t be so quick to label other faiths. These things went on EVERYWHERE.
Sean Coleman
She says, half-way through, that these children were buried without a thought. How does she know that? What does she think  ‘went on behind the walls’? Why does she say it is a septic tank when the recent official mentions two structures, one a septic tank filled with rubble and another structure, which might have been connected with the sewerage system, where the remains were found? Why all the outrage?
dey balingit
Always blaiming the Catholic Church. They testify in false accusations and to blaim the nuns…
Carmel Relihan
I never put a priest on a pedal stone that’s only for Jesus my saviour also the Catholic Church never controlled anybody girls went there by their own free will for privacy because of gossiping neighbours not because of priests on the pulpit these mothers and babies were well treated by the nuns
Aidan Joyce
She makes herself out to be a hero. Shes bluffing for the most part.
Fibonacci
Babies were not buried in and around an old septic tank as stated. They were buried in a crypt which had shelving on its sides. Septic tanks do not have shelving. Also the local council advertised tenders for coffins on at least 19 occasions and many locals remember coffins being built for the babies that died. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy3s6h-XBbI
Jim L
There is a Righteous Judge and He knows the answers … There is a Day of Judgment and all will stand before Him … and there will be Righteous Justice for ALL His Little ones. The penalty will be severe for those who claimed to work in His service and mistreated any of His children no matter what their ages. I believe they will live again in a better world when He will watch over them Himself.
The T
Sellout Corless was paid to go along with this hoax.
chacha Truth
THATS CATHERINE CORLESS THE MONEY MAKING LIER!!
Trish Clarke
This hoax cost tax payers €2million to investigate??
Aidan Joyce
I wonder if she is horrified at todays lawful slaughter of the unborn.
Moviefan 1892
I cannot believe that people feel sympathy for these women who had no business getting pregnant when they did. That’s right, blame the Church for their stupid behavior.
DES FITZGERALD
THE MURDER of babies is atrocious. but so is the murder of UNBORN babbies.