Reading about the Magdalene Laundries Is Hard

By David Clohessy
SNAP
February 19, 2013

http://www.snapnetwork.org/reading_about_the_magdalene_laundries_is_hard

I can stomach a lot. But it's very hard for me to read about the Magdalene Laundries.

When I do, here's what I think:

--I wasn't torn from my family

--I had one tormentor, not several or many

--I wasn't around that tormentor 24/7

--No one blamed me for my plight (some of the girls were put in these cruel institutions for being on a train without a ticket)

I could go on and on, but my point is simple: these defenseless girls - hundreds and hundreds of them - suffered immeasurably and needlessly, both as youngsters and well into adulthood. My heart aches to think of what they endured while church and governmental authorities inflicted or ignored their pain.

Now, thanks to their courage and tenacity, they've gotten an apology. I hope it helps. I hope real compensation will follow soon. And I hope - desperately - that some crucial lessons have been learned about secrecy, cruelty and how dangerous it is when secular and religious figures collude.