Their policy is “deny until we die”.

One word for those two nuns and its C u next Tuesday. Plural.

The Journal.ie poll result http://www.thejournal.ie/poll-magdalene-laundries-religious-orders-825682-Mar2013/ comes as no surprise. We live in a country where the population finds its way sporadically to a place where common decency might prevail where matters like the Magdalene laundries are concerned. Sadly it never takes long for the Irish collective to revert back to that sense of religious subjugation it knows and loves best.
It brings to mind the Stockholm syndrome. A nation held hostage for so long by an organization masquerading as a religious identity, will it seems forever hold a sympathetic view of those it ought most despise and subsequently hold to account.
The frenetic infatuation for the RCC as expressed by our so called investigative journalists at RTE Prime Time when the “Hooooollyyy Faddddeeerrr” resigned was something to see. I’m positively sure that Miriam O’Callaghan had to wipe the drool from her chin between takes. It was sickening to behold, and more so because I had in some way financially contributed to the farce that was and continues to be Irish investigative journalism.
To permit pious and distasteful individuals to express such opinions anonymously on behalf of their orders in a manner that served to undermine and belittle the experience of those held in captivity by them defies comprehension. Hardly surprising when one considers the easy ride through interviews afforded to the likes of politicians and the above mentioned religious orders by drooling subservient Irish journalists.

And Niall, you’re correct. There is not a single word that exists in the English language that better describes those two individuals.

yes (Comrade) Dawg,
they should be a complete media blackout & censorship on anything that pertains to the word ‘catholic’ or ‘christian’. The Politburo should completely ban that word, in our society.
Then we could round up all the clergy & ship them all to the Gulag. The practising & lay catholics would be rounded up by the Thought Police to follow.
That should probaly erase that organisation, from the ‘Irish collective’ memory.

Agreed Niall ,the word thick cut comes to mind to describe each of these nuns

Perhaps you misunderstood me Zoe.

I can only speak for myself but I do not want religious fundamentalist nut jobs to hide in plain sight, nor do I advocate shipping you or you’re team leaders off to a coal mine in North Korea, or a Gulag in Siberia for that matter. To do so would only serve to let you and your associates of rather lightly.

I much prefer that you remain in civilized society so as those around you can avail of the opportunity to see you for what you are. Irish society needs to hear what you have to say. Your organization needs more forums, more lobby groups and more funding to achieve this end. The more you talk the more people will see how truly twisted a religious bigot can be.

I’ll never understand a plea for tolerance from a member of a religious organization which at it’s very heart advocates openly for the exclusion and subsequent denigration of so many others living in our society today.

Its not enough for folks like you to have your say. You guys want it all. You have a rule book ready and would love the opportunity to once again become a driving force in Irish society. Well, I have news for you Zoe, Ireland has long since moved on. Yes there are a few of you left standing on the sidelines hanging on by your fingernails but you guys are passengers now in the back seat and you will now go where we go, if only from a legislative view point, but that’s enough for me to start with.

So please, stick around and Just keep those jaws flapping girl. I figure if you lot squawk enough you’ll talk yourselves into obscurity, and by reckoning you can’t do that from a hole in the ground in Siberia.

by *my* reckoning….just in case your the pedantic type :)

*you’re*…….must hedge my bets here Zoe ;)

The church has been persecuted in Ireland for centuries.
And millions have died for their faith in the Soviet Gulags.
Mabey some day you will have your Utopia, – that is free from every trace of Catholicism, & Christianity.
But who would you hate then?…

Zoe, if you honestly think several Catholic orders being forced to apologise and make reparations for indentured servitude is the same thing as being persecuted in gulags, I think you should seriously reconsider your perspective.

I don’t hate you or your religious nut job friends. I tolerate you. Lets face it Zoe, the RCC clearly has a propensity to self harm. No amount of hate from my direction can in any way exacerbate that which you lot have brought upon yourselves.

Besides sometimes there is just nothing on Comedy Central, but the IONA Institute website runs with great comedic material 24 hours a day and David Quinn just never stops tweeting.

Like I said, Ireland needs you and so do I.

thats grand so.

Zoe. The church may have been persecuted for centuries here in Ireland but it’s certainly made up for it in the last 90 years.
Those nuns’ reaction is just disgusting. Here in Ireland we gave the church carte blanche and we all know what absolute power does.

Very well put, my dawg

30,000 women in the laundries and they only closed their doors in 1996.

They absolutely should be given airtime. This way people will finally shed the delusion that the Church is really a loving organisation and the laundries were just a brief mistake. And the child abuse was just a brief mistake. And the cover-ups were just a brief mistake. And the inquisition was just a brief mistake. And the Dark Ages were just a brief mistake. And the witch burnings were just a brief mistake. And their bigotry is just a brief mistake. Etc etc etc.

The fact that they chose cowardly anonymity starkly shows their knowledge of their guilt. Cowardice and evil go hand in hand.

Well stated though the court system is back logged. They wheeled in elderly Nazi guards to court so the same could be done to the nuns.

They were so lucky to escape

Absolutely. I call on someone who knows them to expose them now and report them to the authorities. I’d be sure they were abusers?

Yes named & shamed

There has yet to be an investigation into the judiciary’s shameful role in this. Seems they threw out ALL the Constitutional protections that citizens are supposed to have.

I agree with your point however I don’t agree with how they went about the callus acts that they committed. I spoke with a elderly nun once who told me that the young nuns in training weren’t treated much better that the ladies in the laundries. She told me how she entered the convent with the belief that she had heard the ‘call’ as a young girl of 15 and then for years after she was not allowed any contact with her family or people from her life outside the convent. Everyday she would make her way to the hospital to visit the sick passing by her family home and not be allowed to interact. How difficult this must have been. She had chores to do everyday and beyond prayer was not allowed any conversation with the other nuns or novices. I am in no way making excuses for the way these ‘Women of God’ acted but hearing this nuns story made me think that they too were prisoners in a sense.

I think you will find that there was a very strong social class bias in terms of those who CHOSE to become nuns & those who were held in the laundry against their will.

@ Vit The obscenities that went on in the Institutions were much more than ‘beating and shouting’. In these Institutions a A climate of fear, created by pervasive, excessive and arbitrary punishment, permeated most of the institutions. Children lived with the daily terror of not knowing where the next beating was coming from. Seeing or hearing other children being beaten was a frightening experience that stayed with [them] all their lives.

Those who ran away were subjected to extremely severe punishment. Absconders were severely beaten, at times publicly. Some had their heads shaved and were humiliated. Details were not reported to the [authorities], which did not insist on receiving information about the causes of absconding. Neither the [authorities] nor the management [of the Institution] investigated the reasons why such a particularly high rate of absconding was taking place. Cases of absconding associated with chronic sexual or physical abuse therefore remained undiscovered. In some instances all the children in a school were punished because a child ran away.

There was little variation in the use of physical beating from region to region, from decade to decade, or from Congregation to Congregation.

This would indicate a cultural understanding within the system that beating [children] was acceptable and appropriate. Individual [clerics] and lay staff who were extreme in their punishments were tolerated by management and their behaviour was rarely challenged.

Punishment was often administered in a way calculated to increase anguish and humiliation for girls. One way of doing this was for children to be left waiting for long periods to be beaten. Another was when it was accompanied by denigrating or humiliating language. Some beatings were more distressing when administered in front of other children and staff.

Children were frequently hungry and food was inadequate, inedible and badly prepared in many schools. Witnesses spoke of scavenging for food from waste bins and animal feed. [Inspectors] found that malnourishment was a serious problem in schools run by nuns.

No nuns were beaten or humiliated and they were well fed. No nuns had to scrabble in bins for food.

Not necessarily Maura some nuns were sent in by their families because they couldn’t afford to keep them. These nuns were essentially treated as servants by the more well off nuns.

To serve the priests and tell them how great they and their order is. Me arse. How they don’t revolt themselves is beyond me.

Hi Keith,

Why do I have to explain myself to you or anyone else for that matter as to why I continue to go to church. I have a faith that I believe strongly in. Like a lot of Catholics around the world I am disgusted in the way in the way these institutions were run, disgusted at the child abuse and more than disgusted at the cover up’s. Those responsible need to held accountable for their actions and punished to the full extent of the law. No exemptions.

I believe in the Catholic faith and Ireland guarantees freedom of worship. I don’t need to explain myself to any one.

Well said Colin. Well siad

Colin i wouldnt dream of having a go at someones beliefs which of course your entitled to. However im talking about the Church as an organisation.
You mention that these people who commited these acts should be held accountable etc,the reality is a large majority of people are still in power who are responsible for covering up and moving on child abusers and slave laundries under the name and the authority of the Catholic church. If you can still justify supporting an organisation after that go ahead. I am in no way saying you condon such vile actions. I am happy that i dont contribute one cent to this

Colin. By showing your face in church, you’re effectively showing your support. The church here couldn’t have done any worse (slave labour, child rape, misogyny etc) yet people STILL attend mass and put money in the baskets. Can’t you pray at home?

Hi Keith. The HSE as an organisation abused many under its care and in the name of the state that has its own moral code too, but we still use the HSE. I can’t imagine many dumping their medical cards anytime soon or leaving the state and forming their own tribe on an island somewhere can you?

What should I do? My wife has an appointment in the hospital on Monday for a life threatening disease. Please oh enlightened human guru of the modern age, help me persuade her not to, that they are a bunch of murdering beasts who abused many children in their care?

I think a lot of people have some explaining to do as to why they continue to support the state and HSE after all the cover ups of abuse and disgusting things its members did, what do you think Keith? I think it’s time Keith you pack your bags and leave this country now, because your presence in this country shows your support for these government bodies and government itself who committed and covered up many crimes.

Bad analogy Stephen.
There’s no alternative to the HSE, except perhaps the NHS or another countries health service. And that’s what it is, a service.

The church on the other hand is something that you choose to attend. If you read the bible you wouldn’t, Jesus said that his father was not to be found in any temple, it was in Isaiah, look it up.
You have plenty of alternatives to the church, as suggested above, you could pray at home. No one expects you to ditch your beliefs because of the actions of the hypocrites running the church, believe what you want. But the Vatican and its representatives are the modern day equivalent of the Pharisees, Jesus himself would reject them. It’s for this reason I cannot get my head around people continuing to attend mass.

Shanti the HSE is something you choose to attend also. If you want to die in your Illness then nothing is Compelling you to attend a doctor. It is an organisation that delivers a medical service. The Catholic Church is one that delivers a spiritual service and if people want to waste away spiritually and avoid that service nothing is stopping them either. We only invite people in same as HSE.

Now shanti, you have a lot of explaining to do as to why you support an organisation such as the HSE after all the children abused in their care? According to your logic it would be madness to hang around.

A man goes to a shop to buy his newspaper. The guy behind the counter is always rude to him. So his friend says , ” why do you always buy your paper from this guy, he is always rude to you?” Replied the friend, ” why should I allow the guy who is rude to me decide where I should buy my paper?”

Same thing with the church. Why should I allow the sinfulness of its members decide where whether I attend church or not?

Stephen – you’ve just contradicted yourself. Of course one would attend a doctor, your wife needs to despite you not wishing to support the HSE as you said above. She wants to live, you want her to live, and the best way she can do so is via the HSE, that’s not a choice Stephen, that’s life and death.

Again I put it to you, Jesus would have cast out these evil men and women claiming that they did the work of what they called The Lord. Ye shall know them by their fruits Stephen. If you are staying in the church then it needs urgent reform – and you get no say in that reform, the only way to make it happen is to withdraw your support.

Who do you follow? Jesus or the Pope?

By the way Stephen..
One would not necessarily waste away spiritually without the Catholic Church..
There’s all manner of religions besides Catholicism, indeed, if you like the whole Jesus story there’s a few hundred versions of Christianity to choose from alone.

Spirituality is not contingent upon the Catholic Church, and to try and insinuate that it was would be extremely disrespectful of those who do not share your religion. After all, faith is a belief in god, religions are just beliefs about god.

That has to be the worse analogy for the Catholic chuch i have read in a long time. Technically yes you choose to go to the HSE,over death. Not exactly the same thing as choosing to go to mass,as in the consquences for not going to mass is nowhere near death,in fact its an extra hour in bed.
The government are a disgrace in this whole thing too,however the redeeming factor is those involved are now gone whereas the vile people in the church responsible are STILL there.
I can’t believe i have responded back to your HSE drivel,penney’s or nike sweat shops would have been more appropriate.

Oh I forgot my own high flung analogy too. Its a variation on your newspaper one hope you dont mind,though i am sure you robbed it from somewhere else anyway. What if a popular chain of cornershops was where I usually get my paper,but it had a long history of abuses (raping kids) in quite a lot of branches. Would you continue to get your paper there? After all no one is saying stop getting your paper,they sell them in other shops to!! Try a Spar or something ;)

Ah sure not all Nazi Concentration Camp Guards were bad either……………

Despite the years of violence and abuse of children by the Catholic Church why do Irish people still have their children baptised catholic? Then there are communions confirmations and marriages again all in the Catholic Church. When are we going to have the courage to make a stand and say enough is enough or are we just a nation spineless hypocrites ?

Susanna Hi, I was Baptised Catholic, Married Buddhist (9 buddhist monks, no joke) and when I die I’d like to be mixed in with the Horse Burgers we Irish People Love.

Well, some people tend to mind spiritual things, because they feel that to be born to this world, live for a while and then die, has no deeper meaning, sense or purpose, because everything would turn into nothing at the end. It just doesn’t make sense to some people, they need purpose in their life, explanation why they are here, meaning that would last and reach beyond this broken world. Surprising? Not really. Only natural, in my view.

The fact that there are institutions and people who can abuse this natural human longing and turn it into a power structure, using people for their own selfish purposes is very sad. But to suggest that a person, who has a spiritual side to his/her being is some simpleminded and stupid individual is disrespectful.

Who came up with ‘The God Slot’ as a title. I know I should slag RTE somewhere else but a license fee should at least be used more creatively than that.

It’s the angelus that gets me. Why is it there and why is it allowed to interfere with time scheduling eg. delaying the midday news bulletin?

thanks for the flowers, Deirdre

Davina
I am not defending the magdalene laundries or what went on there but there also existed a hierarchy within religious orders in this country.
Nuns who’s families could afford to sent them to convents where they were educated, if you couldn’t afford it you basically entered as a servant nun to other more well off sisters.
Different religious orders were involved in the better schools in the country or voluntary hospitals.
How you were treated in convents depended on your circumstances when you entered.
So to berate all religious is wrong as an side bar I don’t go to mass or believe in the catholic dogma I think as long as you do good remain open minded your bound to be a better person.

Davina,

I certainly don’t wish to condone the magdelene laundries at all but I feel your comment about “evil witches” tarnishes all nuns which isn’t fair at all. I had the pleasure of being taught by three wonderful nuns when I was a teenager.
One taught my class to appreciate impressionist works and told us of her love of Paris, it instilled in me the idea to live in France, which I now do.
The second was an amazing woman who was so full of life and full of faith, perhaps not a faith that I shared or could ever share but her zest for life and chatting with the youth, even when she was old and frail was awe inspiring.
The third was the gentlest, calmest and most supportive lady-like woman I ever met, who often gently reminded me to stand straight with my shoulders back as “beautiful young ladies should always hold their heads high”. I often catch myself now while slouching and remember this sentence…

Were/are all nuns like this? Certainly not. Were/are all nuns evil witches? Certainly not.

The women who ran the Laundries were not worthy of calling themselves nuns, nor servants of the Lord (Sister A and Sister B do not deserve those titles either).
However, to say that all are “evil witches” who should be in convents full time and shouldn’t teach is something I cannot agree with at all. I was incredibly lucky to have three great ladies teach me, they do not deserve to be called “evil witches”.

I would have to agree with Emm.. There was obviously some wicked and nasty nuns in the pack, but there were some good ones too. Even in Sinead O Connors recount of her time there she said that a nun gave her her first guitar and was really supportive of her.

There is tremendous wrong done here, but it’s not fair to all of the nuns to tar them with the same brush (nor is it fair to witches who were the closest thing to doctors and midwives before the advent of medicine).

Well put Emm and Shanti
I have been very lucky to meet some very inspirational women throughout my life who happened to be nuns. There are other nuns who have left my blood run cold, but whatever walk of life they chose they would have been the same.

Good point Terry.
The nuns were the prison guards. Irish society cast the sentence.
We should be less quick to condemn these nuns who themselves are victims of the church cult mindset and have as a result wasted their lives away in pious devotion to the Great Xanu, or whatever the being floating on a cloud calls itself.

Yes but defending the laundries and calling them a service? They were a prison for women, many of which had their children born out of wedlock taken away from them. These women already had a roof over their head and a future which was taken away from them by parents, the state and members of a religious order that is built on the foundation of Christ himself who is love. I am disgusted at their response. May God have mercy on them for behaving in such a manner and defending these laundries.

My prayers are with those unfortunate people who had to endure such hardship at the hands of people who wore a mask of false piety in order to carry out such acts upon them. My prayers are also with those who committed such crimes and I forgive them and would invite others to do the same. The best weapon we have against evil is love and forgiveness. This does not entail ignoring discipline, because their is love in discipline as long as its in accordance with the Gospel and done appropriately.

It’s like people don’t want to accept that the people who sent them there are guilty as well. I just don’t understand.

Fair point but the nuns were evil. The parents would have been ignorant to a certain extent. The nuns were just plain evil.

Fair enough, but these nuns will never own up to the injustices served to these women through their own hands. Hide behind society, God or whomever else, they still inflicted the suffering and made a choice to do so. To be so pious as to comment(other than an apology) now is in my view, another injustice served. They shouldn’t have their voices heard in the media.

There is indeed a point in what they say Terry..
The church,state and the judiciary were all responsible for incarcerating these poor women and children which was an absolute disgrace but didn’t give those so called “Christian Nuns” the right to enslave and mentally and physically torture them..
The whole saga is an absolute disgrace including those who TODAY are still torturing them by there words and actions or lack there off..
Including todays government.

NUNS victims..
Seriously are you for real ??????
I have heard it all now.

You have to ask yourself: “Where did the parents and family that put these women there, got their values for doing so from?” Right! The catholic church! So, in my opinion, the blame lies always at the catholic church and their values that they forced on society.

I honestly don’t know who I’d hate more the nuns for torturing me or my parents for sending me there? I don’t think people here can claim the parents were brainwashed and the didn’t know any better and then on the other hand say old Benny was a Nazi and that’s that.

Stephen how can you, in good conscious, remain part of this truly corrupt organisation? I have no problem with faith but to remain part of this disgusting organisation is just baffling to me. I don’t understand how some one can support, give money too and christen their babies into this organisation? If you truly want to live by Jesus way then surly staying far away from the church as an organisation is the only way to truly live?

Eloquently put, Stephen.

Nuns have indeed wasted their lives. Before anyone tries to mention charity work, there’s plenty of women involved in charitable work, yet still have family and friends.
To willfully offer to be a nun is surely a sign of some form of mental issues.
If they’re ‘married to god’, does that make god a polygamist?

Good man Stephen, Bible Justice:

And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

Those nuns would really be in for it…

what about a lynch mob?…

Relationships with parents happen outside of the public eye – you have no idea how survivors feel about their parents, as even abused children have incredibly complex and complicated feelings towards their parents.

I will admit, I am totally baffled as to how a loving parent could abandon their daughter that way, but it certainly doesn’t excuse their jailers from responsibility.

They abandonned their daughters because they were brainwashed by the church to believe that the worst thing for a girl was to lose her virginity and being pregnant out of wedlock was to show that she had sinned in this “shameful” way.
I’d say there was a great deal of pressure brought to bear on parents from priests, nuns and the local community to repudiate their daughters. And of course there were always the parents who toed the church line and wanted to show how respectable they were.
We tend to forget these days how desperately people wanted to be thought of as being respectable and how much they cared about the opinions of their neighbours.
Also we tend to forget how not so long ago the aspiration and the pinnacle of achievement of most families was to have a son a priest and a daughter a nun. It really was a different country back then.

There are people who have spent a lifetime and those who have died having suffered at the hands of these clergy and nuns.

The ‘good’ clergy and nuns knew well what the bad ones were doing. Sean Brady took notes about Brendan Smyth but he went on to abuse for decades. I am uneasy that you would defend those who abused children and enslaved women in Magdalene Laundries. You are in denial, Zoe.

Also during the Eucharistic Congress last year which was a flop for the Catholic church, a memorial candle to survivors of abuse was removed from the pro-Cathedral in Dublin despite Archbishop Martin and Cardinal O Malley stating it was to remain at a side altar. Why was it removed whilst a large crowd were there?

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good (wo)men do nothing

Zoe, you’re right, not all of the nuns are bad people.
These two made the choice to go on a radio show and say what they said. The disapproval you see here stems from this. Would you prefer that the journal ignored this story? Is that not what has allowed this sort of attitude and disgraceful behaviour to flourish?

Well said Niall and exactly the point

Shanti
As I have said in other comments, I am as disgusted as anyone else by this report.
But that does not condone, the ongoing daily attacks, & expressions of hatred toward ONE group or organisation, that is happening here.
I have witnessed clergy being attacked. Two wrongs do not make a right.
There is justice, & then there is a lynch mob…

With respect Zoe, that’s completely removed from what I said to you.
For a start, this story isn’t about the McAleese report, it’s about how two nuns chose to conduct themselves on a radio show broadcast by our national broadcaster.

The comments and vitriol here are about the things that these nuns said in light of the report, but that’s the only connection.

I asked you should the journal have ignored this story and permitted this utter contempt toward the survivors go unnoticed? It is foolish to forgive those who have no remorse for their actions. For too long the immoral and despicable behaviour of those in the clergy went unspoken, and it allowed a culture most unbefitting of men and women of the cloth.
It has all come out in the open now, this is a good thing. No, not all members are or were evil – but we call upon those who were not, to drive the hypocrites out. Much like Jesus did.

Freedom of speech doesn’t free them from the equal right of people to criticize what they’ve said, for example people pointing out that these are vile, remorseless slavers who are attempting to justify their crimes.
The scions of Rome didn’t run these laundries or the industrial schools out of the goodness of their hearts, they did it because they saw a way of making money and gaining influence over the state.
It is amazing how two faced the Roman Church and its devotees are. While they lecture the world about the wrongs of moral relativism,it is their main defense when it comes to the sexual, phyisical, emotional and financial abuse visited on innocent victims by their clergy.

Funny, “rubbish” is exactly what I was thinking when I was reading your comment.

Bit over the top mate, no? Freedom of speech is freedom of speech, no matter how much you disagree with what people say or believe.

agree Peter (Daly)
What would have happened to these girls/women without the Magdalen laundries?
Would their families have supported them, – or would they have been financially able to support them?
Ireland was a harsh and impoverished country, – blighted by deprivation & immigration.
There was no social welfare, no employment & no state support, in Ireland from the 1930’s & 40′s onwards.
What happened was terrible, – but we have to consider the context of those harsh times.

@ Zoe

Are you for real??? Most of these women were sent there because of the shame of their families endorsed by the church.So are you really saying these women were better off being,mentally and physically abused ???
This is what religion does to people,I feel sorry for you Zoe,I really do!!!

if you bothered to read my comment, – thats not what I’m saying…

@Riu
Think of the alternative first being homeless falling into prostitution or worse dying on the streets.
I don’t condone what was done to these women and children but Ireland and the UK in those days were not easy places to live a lot of people merely existed.

@ Cliodhna

My point is these women were persecuted in the first place because of the shame endorsed by the church and ingrained in Irish society at the time,only to be physically and mentally abused when they got there.To blame the mothers and fathers for what they thought they were “good Catholic’s” and not wanting shame on their families.No matter what way you look on it,it was because of religion they were sent there,and it was because of religion they were treated the way they were.

The economic poverty of irish society also played a part in this, – not just the church.
There was NOTHING for irish people in the 30′s & 40′s onwards
My grandparents, & all their brothers & sisters, were forced to emigrate, & lived tough lives abroad.
There was no form of any state or welfare assistance, for anyone.

I don’t think we can lay the entire blame on the church or its teachings. That takes the blame off other people who were just as responsible. There were families who stood up to the church otherwise there would have been thousand’s more “troublesome wanton” women in the laundries, and what of the men who got these girls pregnant refused to marry them and then went on to marry “good virgins”?
Are they not in some way responsible?
There were families who went hungry to allow girls go to families in the states to have their babies, or who kept them at home and gave the babies to aunts or sisters who couldn’t have children.

“My grandparents, & all their brothers & sisters, were forced to emigrate, & lived tough lives abroad.”

They were forced to “make one of two choices” not great choices it has to be said but a choice nonetheless.These women didn’t choose to be sent there,it was out of their control.That is a very big difference!!!

they had NO choice. simple as
It was emigrate or go hungry.
That was the reality for most rural Irish families. And in their new communities the ONLY ones who gave them any assistance, was nuns or clergy.

agree Deirdre,
I’m as disgusted as anyone else by the Magdalen report, – but as a society we can’t discount, all the good that has been done by clergy as well.

A question for Zoe would be. What about the case of the sister-in-law “Mary” of campaigner Patricia McDonnell? “Mary” spent 20 years in Sisters of Mercy Magdalene laundry in Dún Laoghaire. A local priest convinced the family she was in ‘moral danger’. The priest warned the family off contacting her. When her younger brother turned 17

“http://www.irishtimes.com/news/she-wants-to-know-why-they-detained-her-1.1252812
“The priest drove Mary to the Dún Laoghaire laundry and asked her brothers not to contact her, to allow her to settle in. Every time Mary’s brothers inquired, the priest warned them off contacting her. Over time they stopped asking.
When Mary’s younger brother – McDonnell’s husband – reached 17, he went in search of her.
He found Mary in the laundry in Dún Laoghaire. The first time he saw her, “beside a robust nun, she looked like someone from Belsen”. He threatened the nuns with legal action if Mary was not released. A time and date were set. When he arrived to pick up Mary, she was on her knees scrubbing a floor.
He asked a nun why this was the case. She replied: “Do you want us to have a riot? No one has ever left this place.”
In time Mary adjusted to life outside, her only query ever being how she could have been detained at the laundry at all.
In the late 1990s, McDonnell and her husband decided to inquire about Mary’s time at Dún Laoghaire. They contacted the Sisters of Mercy. “They denied the laundry existed,” McDonnell says, “even though it was there in Thom’s directory”.
She rang Joe Duffy and Liveline was inundated with calls from people confirming the laundry’s existence.
No records
Contacted again, the Sisters of Mercy said they had no records from the laundry. More recently, they supplied the McDonnells with a copy of an electoral register which proved Mary had been in the laundry between 1951 and 1959.
The Sisters of Mercy were unable to provide the McAleese committee with records for either of their two laundries, in Galway and Dún Laoghaire.
In 2002 and 2003, McDonnell sent letters to then minister for education Noel Dempsey asking how Mary could have been detained, and for so long. He assured her the laundry was a privately run institution over which the State had neither a supervisory nor regulatory role.
This, the McAleese report made clear, was untrue.
Where Mary is concerned, “compensation would mean nothing”, McDonnell says. “She just wants to know why they detained her.”

Was he a “good” clergy man to do this?

Chilling story no he most definitely was not a good “priest” nor “man” to deprive Mary of her family and they of her.