IRELAND
New Ross Standard
PUBLISHED
26/03/2016
The third annual Flowers for Magdalene’s memorial ceremony took place in St. Stephen’s Cemetery, New Ross, recently drawing people from across the region.
A large crowd gathered despite the inclement weather conditions to lay flowers in homage to women who died behind the walls of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd Magdalene Laundry. With the demolition of St Aidan’s Industrial school, which formed part of the Good Shepherd campus in New Ross, in December 2015, the communal grave in St Stephen’s cemetery offers the only visual reminder of the Magdalene legacy in New Ross.
It is estimated that at least 1,663 former Magdalene women are buried in cemeteries across Ireland, many of them in unmarked graves.
The memorial marked International Women’s Day and was held in unison with commemorations at other Magdalene locations throughout the country. This year a flag designed by Nancy Rochford-Flynn for the commemoration was raised by laundry survivor Maureen Sullivan, to place Ireland’s once anonymous daughters within their rightful position in society.
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