Evidence State sent girls as young as 14 to Magdalene laundries

Close to 40 new cases have been uncovered of women as young as 14 years old having been committed to Magdalene laundries by the State.

As the Justice for Magdalenes (JFM) group awaits the final report by the inter-departmental group set up to “clarify” any state involvement, it has provided concrete examples of 38 cases of women, some as young as 14, sent to Magdalene laundries by courts, often for years at a time, between 1926 and 1983.

The move comes just a month after Justice Minister Alan Shatter appeared to backtrack on the question of state involvement in the Magdalene laundries, despite saying in opposition there was irrefutable evidence the State was “directly complicit” in such collusion.