Fight for justice continues

The Magdalene laundry women have been boosted by a report from the Irish Human Rights Commission that calls for a statutory inquiry into the institutions, writes Claire O’Sullivan.

GIRLS as young as 11 were sent to the Magdalene laundries by priests. Girls with intellectual disabilities also ended up there. There were women who were only supposed to be there for a short period on remand or on probation and others who were supposed to only stay for the length of their court probation.

And, then there were the legions of women — who due to pregnancies outside marriage and often rape — were considered “fallen” and so were banished to these ominous buildings, uncertain if they’d ever come back out.