James M. Smith - Irelands Magdalen Laundries and the Nations Architecture of Containment

MAGDALEN LAUNDRIES

AND THE NATIONS

ARCHITECTURE OF

CONTAINMENT

JAMES M. SMITH

University of Notre Dame PressNotre Dame, Indiana

University of Notre Dame Press

Notre Dame, Indiana 46556

www.undpress.nd.edu

All Rights Reserved

Copyright 2007 by University of Notre Dame

Published in the United States of America

Designed by Wendy McMillen

Set in 10.3/13.6 Visage by Four Star Books

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Smith, James M., 1966

Irelands Magdalen Laundries and the nations architecture of containment / James M. Smith.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-0-268-04127-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)

ISBN-10: 0-268-04127-X (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. WomenInstitutional careIrelandHistory. 2. ProstitutesRehabilitationIrelandHistory 3. Church work with prostitutesCatholic Church. 4. Unmarried mothersInstitutional careIrelandHistory. 5. Reformatories for womenIrelandHistory. I. Title.

HV1448.I73S652007

362.83'9dc22

2007025510

ISBN 9780268182182

This book is printed on recycled paper.

This e-Book was converted from the original source file by a third-party vendor. Readers who notice any formatting, textual, or readability issues are encouraged to contact the publisher at .

To my parents,

Patrick J. and Rosaleen Smith

And to the memory of

Caridad A. Valds (19412000)

and

Adele M. Dalsimer (19392000)

Contents

Part 1
The Magdalen Asylum and History: Mining the Archive

CHAPTER 1
The Magdalen in Nineteenth-Century Ireland

CHAPTER 2
The Magdalen Asylum and the State in Twentieth-Century Ireland

Part 2
The Magdalen Laundry in Cultural Representation: Memory and Storytelling in Contemporary Ireland

CHAPTER 3
Remembering Irelands Architecture of Containment: Telling Stories on Stage, Patricia Burke Brogans Eclipsed and Stained Glass at Samhain

CHAPTER 4
(Ef)facing Irelands Magdalen Survivors: Visual Representations and Documentary Testimony

CHAPTER 5
The Magdalene Sisters: Film, Fact, and Fiction

CHAPTER 6
Monuments, Magdalens, Memorials: Art Installations and Cultural Memory

I begin with those whose love and support sustains me on a daily basis, my wife, Beatriz, and our daughter, Isabel. I also thank my parents, siblings, other family members, and good friends for their constant encouragement over the years.

I acknowledge too the real-life victims and survivors of Irelands Magdalen laundries and the nations architecture of containment who inspired this project. I do not presume to speak for them. Rather, my hope is that this book will foster the emergence of a new dialogue about their place in Irish society, in the past and in the present. I owe a special debt of thanks to the survivors and advocacy groups that assisted me in the research and writing of this book, in particular, Imelda Murphy, Mari Steed, and Claire McGettrick; the members of and contributors to the Justice for Magdalenes listserv; and Patricia Burke Brogan, Patsy McGarry, Mary Raftery, Paddy Doyle, Cinta Rimbaldo, and Anton Sweeney.

Many colleagues, mentors, students, and friends at Boston College supported me in bringing this project to completion. Studying and then working in an interdisciplinary Irish Studies program taught me the value of collaboration and cross-disciplinary scholarly exchange. I appreciate their varied contributions to my workas readers, conference organizers, or colloquium attendees, or in informal conversation. They not only improved the work by asking questions but also made the experience of writing it more rewarding.

This book emerged from a single chapter of my doctoral dissertation, and I thank my committee members for guiding me toward completion. Special thanks are due to Professors Kristin Morrison and Adele Dalsimer. Their generosity was constant, their assistance endless. For reading and providing insightful commentary on specific chapters, I thank Michael Cronin, Marjorie Howes, Kevin Kenny, Vera Kreilkamp, Robin Lydenberg, Robert Savage, Andrew Sofer, and Chris Wilson. I also thank Mary Crane for her guidance and encouragement.

I am also indebted to the larger Boston College intellectual community. The College of Arts and Sciences, in particular Dean Joseph Quinn, awarded me a Research Incentive Grant that funded a number of research trips to Ireland and underwrote the Undergraduate Research Assistant program from which I benefited greatly over the course of six semesters. The Center for Irish Programs, especially Professor Thomas Hachey, sponsored numerous research and conference trips. The Irish Studies Program provided opportunities to present my research and always made available its resources to enhance my goals. In addition to those already mentioned, I thank Catherine McLaughlin, Seamus Connolly, Ruth Ann Harris, Ann Morrisson Spinney, Philip OLeary, Kevin ONeill, and Liz Sullivan. Many of the Burns Library Visiting Professors in Irish Studies engaged with my research and provided important feedback. In a particular way, I acknowledge and thank Professor Maria Luddy, who read my complete manuscript and whose scholarship I am especially indebted to. Steve Vedder and the staff of BC Media Tech Services were generous in providing their expertise to produce the images that appear in the text.

Through my membership in scholarly organizations I was fortunate to meet, share ideas with, and learn from a host of fellow travelers in the world of Irish Studies. Those who generously read sections of this book in draft form include Margot Backus, Ruth Barton, Elizabeth Butler Cullingford, Kathleen Costello-Sullivan, Margaret Kelleher, George OBrien, Donal Drisceoil, Margaret hgartaigh, Lauren Onkey, Margaret Preston, Paige Reynolds, and Eibhear Walshe. Others helped shape my ideas through conversations and scholarly exchange, including Sighle Bhreathnach-Lynch, Jim Byrne, Claire Connolly, Kathryn Conrad, Gearoid Denvir, Frances Finnegan, Louise Fuller, Luke Gibbons, Breda Grey, Liam Harte, Richard Haslam, Colleen Hynes, Richard Kearney, Anthony Keating, Declan Kiberd, Joe Lee, Joseph Lennon, Moira Maguire, Yvonne McKenna, Sarah McKibben, Gerardine Meaney, Paula Murphy, Briona NicDiarmada, Brian Conchubhair, Anne OConnor, Eunan OHalpin, Lance Pettitt, James Rodgers, Louise Ryan, and Kevin Whelan.

Because the nature of my work is heavily dependent on archival research, I owe a special debt of thanks to the many librarians who facilitated my scholarship. Kathy Williams, John Atteberry, Elizabeth Sweeney, Brendan Rapple, and Anne Kenny at Boston College found ways to make available even the most obscure material. The staff at Irelands National Library were always welcoming and encouraging. Likewise at the National Archives in Dublin, Caitriona Crowe and Tom Quinlan assisted this nonhistorian in primary research. David Sheehy, formerly Dublin Diocesan Archivist, Brian Lynch at RT Archives, and Sunniva OFlynn and Antoinette Prout at the Irish Film Center were generous with their time. Emma Stevens at the Office of Public Works library assisted me with information regarding the Magdalen Memorial Bench in St. Stephens Green.