David O’Mahony: From the Pied Piper to Ireland’s Magdalene laundries, how history gets rewritten

The Pied Piper offers a curious window into how memory, folklore and shame can reshape traumatic events across generations

Survivors of mother and baby homes and Magdalene laundries have been able to tell stories that rewrite the previously official narrative. Picture: Larry Cummins

I managed to annoy somebody online this week.

And I know what you’re thinking: “Just the one?” Touché. But I didn’t even mean to this time. All I did was tell them something that conflicted with what they already believed.