Repatriation of single mothers: ‘I should never have been in Ireland’

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By Chris Page, BBC News Ireland

54 minutes ago

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Maria was sent to the mother and child home

“You’re the blood in my veins, the water in my tears. But I’m still in pain. You’re so close, but I can’t touch you.”

Maria Cahill explores the trauma of her early life in poetry.

She was six weeks old when her mother, Philomena, was brought back from Britain to Ireland.

Maria was born in London – a British citizen – yet she was also sent to one of the “Mother and Child Homes” in secret Ireland.

They were considered places of punishment for sin.

Her story raises important questions about the relocation program for thousands of single women and girls, from the 1930s through the 1970s.

Their trip was organized by state authorities and religious charities.

Campaigners say that in many cases the repatriation, supposedly voluntary, has been imposed on the women.

At home in Doncaster, West Yorkshire, 69-year-old Maria told me: “I should never have been in Ireland, because I was born in London.

“I really wish it (the trip to Ireland) had not happened in my lifetime.”

“She must have loved me very much.”

I’ve been in contact with Maria and her daughter Fiona for six months, talking to them about their efforts to find out missing details about Maria’s early years.

Nearly seven decades later, Mariah clearly feels an enormous sense of loss for the woman she was permanently separated from when she was just two years old.

Pictures of Philomena are featured in Maria’s living room.

“She must have loved me very much,” said Maria, reflecting on a treasured photograph showing her on Philomena’s knee at an institution for single mothers in Castle Pollard, County Westmeath.

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Maria and Philomena at the Institution for Single Mothers in Castle Pollard

Philomena Cahill was 19 when she gave birth to Maria in Hendon in 1954.

She had moved to the English capital to work in a cigarette factory.

While in town, she met Maria’s father.

Maria has spent 40 years accumulating documents, trying to solve the mysteries of her childhood.

Recently, Fiona has largely handled the process of writing letters and submitting requests for documents under the Freedom of Information Act.

They have ring envelopes inflated with plastic wallets containing the correspondence and records they have obtained.

One letter says that in January 1954—two months before Maria was born—a priest named Father Craven referred Philomena to an organization known as the Westminster Commission for Social Welfare.

It was “run under the auspices of the Rescue Crusade” – which was one of the main organizations involved in the repatriation scheme.

They took my mother’s name away.

The baptismal certificate shows that Maria was baptized in a London church on 27 April 1954, a month after her birth.

The next record in the sequence is from the ledger at Castlepollard ‘Mother and Child Home’ in County Westmeath – where Philomena and Maria arrived in May 1954.

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Maria’s entry in the baptismal register

Philomena spent two years there – which was, at the time, the standard period of so-called “moral rehabilitation” for unwed mothers labeled “prime offenders”.

“They took my mother’s name away,” said Maria, “because she was a ‘bad girl’ — and they called her Cyril.”

The ledger records “Cyril” as Philomena’s “house name”—by which the women and girls of the institution were to be known during their time there.

Philomena and Maria saw each other for the last time in 1956.

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Castlepollard “Mother and Child Home” in County Westmeath

Mariah recounted how emotionally abusive the woman she adopted in Ireland was: “I grew up very lonely.”

In later life, Maria and Philomena coincidentally lived in Edinburgh at the same time – unknown to each other.

“I could have met my mom,” Maria said. “I feel like I was taken out of her hands — she was cheated.”

Maria’s difficulties in learning about her past are demonstrated by the fact that she has a UK birth certificate, listing Philomena as her mother – and an Irish birth certificate, where her adoptive parents are listed as her mother and father.

Maria only learned of Philomena’s identity after Philomena’s death.

Maria found out that she had half-siblings and Philomena was also looking for her.

However, Philomena believed that Maria was adopted in Canada.

“I was a very lovable and sought-after child,” Maria said, adding, “Why didn’t they tell her more about me?”

The Catholic Church in Ireland

During the 20th century, the Catholic Church wielded enormous power in Ireland – and the country was much more socially conservative than the United Kingdom.

Unmarried pregnant women often left Ireland to avoid going to oppressive institutions – most often to Great Britain.

Since the independence of what is now the Republic of Ireland from the United Kingdom in 1922, Irish immigrants to Britain have enjoyed nearly all the rights of British citizens – including residence, health care and social security.

However, the archives show that British social welfare agencies and charities often viewed single Irish mothers as a burden on resources.

Dr Lorraine Grimes of the University of Maynooth, who examined the files, explained: “The cost is strongly emphasized.

“They used to say, ‘We’re taking in these women, we’re going to house them in our institutions, and we have to find homes for their children.'”

Image courtesy of Maria Cahill

These were the numbers in which a designation appeared in the official documents – “PFI”, standing for “Pregnant from Ireland”, a term the survivors find insulting.

In Ireland, the Catholic Church feared that children born to Irish women in England would be lost to the faith.

In 1931, representatives of the Dublin government and English Catholic welfare organizations met at the Irish High Commission in London.

The Irish state has agreed to pay half of the repatriation costs for mothers who have become pregnant in Ireland and have no further children.

However, there is evidence that some women were repatriated even though they had settled in Great Britain for a long time.

For example, in 1967 researcher Mary Frances Cregan recorded a case of a woman who moved to England at the age of eight – but was sent back to Ireland when she became pregnant years later.

Dr. Lauren Grimes said that while repatriations were supposed to be optional, a number of the mothers she spoke to “felt that they had been completely forced – and had no choice.”

Several other academics have cited similar findings.

More questions about human rights and consent appear in stories like that of Maria Cahill – who was born in Great Britain, but moved to another country as a child.

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Maria and her daughter Fiona showed me photo albums and documents

Maria’s daughter Fiona said there should be an official apology for what she described as an “anti-Irish, anti-single mother scheme”.

“There wouldn’t be a complete sense of closure for my mom, because she never met her mom.

“But just revealing the truth, and saying ‘sorry’, it means a lot.”

It is difficult to ascertain the numbers of women and children involved in repatriations.

The Catholic Protection and Rescue Society of Ireland (CPRSI) – which was one of the main organizations in Dublin – recorded having facilitated the repatriation of 2,610 mothers between 1948 and 1971.

The highest annual number of 213 occurred in 1967.

Government notes also indicate that there were 195 resettlements by CPRSI from 1938 to 1948.

But the overall scale is likely to be larger—first, because there are no verifiable numbers from the 1920s and most of the 1930s.

For example – a welfare organization in Liverpool docks reported contact with 1,947 pregnant Irish women from 1926-1930.

It is not known how many have been repatriated.

There are recorded cases of women being sent to Ireland from various other places – including Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester and Portsmouth.

Also, some repatriations are not documented at all.

“There were secret informal arrangements — through priests, through parents — that don’t appear in any official records,” said Dr. Grimes.

The challenges in compiling ‘fragmentary’ statistics is one reason she feels more research is needed – and the country has to ‘face this institutional past’.

“A lot of survivors are dead, and others are just getting old. So it’s important that this happens now and not leave it for another decade.”

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Dr. Lauren Grimes said that while the deportations were supposed to be optional, a number of the mothers she spoke to felt they were forced to.

The Irish government said it was “aware of the severe distress and hurt felt by the many repatriated survivors”.

And she sent the BBC a lengthy statement, outlining the work and findings of the Mother and Child Homes Investigation Committee, which will publish its final report in 2021.

Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Michael Martin apologized to the institutional survivors saying, “Each one of you has done nothing wrong and has nothing to be ashamed of.”

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“My advice to women experiencing this is to keep strong,” said Maria.

The government also said that “comprehensive birth information and tracing services are now provided under the latest legislation”.

The Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary – who run the Castle Pollard Foundation – said they had no knowledge of the matters we raised.

The organization said it handed all of its files relating to mother and child homes to the Irish health and social care authorities in 2009.

“Keep strong”

Maria spoke about her experience in the hope that she can help other survivors.

“My advice to women who struggle with this is to keep it strong.

“There is always a paper trail.

“It may have taken 40 years, but in the end the bits and pieces are coming together around my life.”

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