Nuns intervene to ensure play about mother and baby homes can go ahead in Dingle chapel

The Féile na Bealtaine show by Pat and Tony Owen initially faced opposition but two nuns ensured it got the go-ahead

Kerry based artist Pat Owen 

A Co Kerry artist said she is overwhelmed after Presentation nuns reversed a decision and will now allow her to perform a play on the mother and baby homes in their chapel in Dingle.

Last month, Pat Owen was told that her reading could not go ahead but, after the intervention of two nuns on the board of the venue, the play got the green light.

Mercy Mercy is the story of one young woman who was locked up in a mother and baby home, and it will take place in the chapel at the Diseart.

Pat and her husband Tony Owen wrote the play which will be performed by four women on stage.

The board of An Daingean had initially refused the play because of the theme. However, Mrs Owen told the Irish Examiner that two nuns intervened to reverse that decision. She said:

The nuns said it was a good thing to bring it out in the open and to have it heard. I feel that shows a change in attitudes and I am very grateful to them.

“It is a sensitive topic and one that is hard for people to hear, especially in the grounds of a chapel.

“This is a concise version of what will be a full-length play later. This is a story about belief, and it’s about who was involved and why did this happen.

“There are seven songs in the overall play, but for this shorter version, the lyrics of the song 'Mercy Mercy' will be read as poetry, and the women will sing the chorus.

“It spotlights on one woman and her story. There is a question-and-answer period after the play. A lot of people are talking about it, and we are hopeful there will be a good turnout.

“We are nervous, this is our first play together. Tony has written plays, he is an actor, but he did the dialogue, and I did the scenarios.” 

Mrs Owen, who was born in the US to an Irish family from Galway, was later placed in foster homes.

She moved around several residential centres before being reunited with her father and mother – who later married.

In 2006, Pat and her husband moved to Ireland where they both work as artists in Dingle. 

Pat continued:  “I wasn’t in a mother and baby home, but I do know a little about residential homes and that is why the mother and baby homes topic is very important to me and I have done a lot of art around this area."

• Mercy Mercy’will be performed as part of the Feile na Bealtaine in An Daingean at the Disceart Chapel at 1pm on Monday, May 1.

The Irish Examiner has asked the Presentation order at An Daingean for comment.