IRELAND
Irish Post
September 23, 2016, By Erica Doyle Higgins & Fiona Audley
THIS weekend marks the 20th anniversary of the closure of the last Magdalene Laundry in Ireland.
On September 25 1996, Ireland’s final laundry, which was located on Sean MacDermott Street in Dublin and run by the Sisters of Our Lady, closed its doors for good.
While it’s not known for definite, it’s estimated that 10,000 women were institutionalised in laundries since the foundation of the Irish state in 1922.
The Irish Post reported in 2013 that the majority of laundry survivors escaped to Britain, for fear they’d be caught and incarcerated again.
As a result of the secrecy of the institutions, many survivors felt forgotten and unable to tell their stories.
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