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Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland => Dublin => Topic started by: erin21 on Friday 24 March 06 21:54 GMT (UK)
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Does anyone out there know anyone with any knowledge of ST Patricks Home around 1935 ?
Erin21
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Hi Erin,
Decades ago when I lived in Dublin I often passed St. Patrick's Home.
I am doing a bit of searching on the web for you....so far, I have come up with:
http://users.erols.com/bcccsbs/bass/new_25magd.html
"She was born in St Patrick's Home for Unmarried Mothers on the Navan Road in Dublin. Her mother was one of thousands who found herself pregnant and unmarried in the 1940s, her family unable to meet her needs. St Patrick's at this time had 500 babies, it was severely overcrowded. Separated at eight months, Kathleen and her mother lived parallel lives in religious institutions. She describes a childhood ``of distance and denial'' and then spending all her life trying to get a profile of a relationship between herself and her mother."
DUBLIN, Nov. 21 — Everyone of a certain age in Ireland knows about the Magdalene Asylums, where women who offended the country's moral code were sent to live, and sometimes to die, in disgrace.
When Charles Oliver was growing up in rural County Tipperary, a friend of his family disappeared into such a place in a cloud of shame after giving birth out of wedlock. But it was not until a recent evening that Mr. Oliver, 59, began to learn what really went on behind the locked doors of the Magdalene homes, which took in 30,000 women over the decades until the last one finally closed in 1996.
Emerging from a showing here of "The Magdalene Sisters," a film written and directed by Peter Mullan about the casual cruelty and commonplace despair in the homes, Mr. Oliver was stunned, and sad.
I remember recently seeing three "Magdalene Girls" being interviewed on telly when the above film previewed....the girls went through a tough time.
Hope that this helps.
Joe
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Dear Joe
Thanks for the information. Yes I understand all this. The person I am researching for was abandoned in this home by her mother. She has spent her life looking for her. Time is running out. I have found her mothers birth place but sadly her mother seemed to disappear into oblivion after leaving. Thanks again for your help.
Erin21
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Hi
http://www.adoptionboard.ie/index.php
I am not sure if this will help
Regards
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gmack
Thank you I shall investigate further. My friend was adopted for a while and badly treated so was returned via social workers to St Philomena's Stillorgan. Little information seems to be available about this, in fact nothing has been forthcoming. Seems to be a lot of secrecy about a lot of things !!!! Thank you for your help. If you ever happen to come across the name of Catherine or Kathleen Butler Born 06/12/1909 living in Dublin in 1935( then vanished )without trace please let me know .
Erin
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Hi Erin
this site might be better
http://www.adoptionireland.com/
wish you luck
regards
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gmack
Thanks again
Erin
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I was wondering would any one know where I might find some old photographs or postcards of St Patricks Navan Road, I have only managed to find one link on the net.
Erin
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Hiya Erin,
This address may be useful to you.
St. Louise Adoption Society
1st Floor,
Park House,
North Circular Road ,
Dublin 7.
01 – 8387122
Previous address: 1 James' St. , Dublin 8.
Holds records for:
Dublin Health Authority / Dublin Board of Assistance
1 James' St. , Dublin 8
St Patrick's Home, Navan Road , Dublin 7
All the Best, Chris
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I was wondering would any one know where I might find some old photographs or postcards of St Patricks Navan Road, I have only managed to find one link on the net.
Erin
I found this picture taken at Christmas time in the Orphanage
Erin
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Hi Erin21,
The film "the Magdalene Sisters" is on Channel 4 tonight at 10.00 pm.
It is quite a harrowing picture, but worth watching to gain an insight into the thinking of the authorities at the times......as a Catholic I never understood the fixation that the Nuns had about sex......frustation??
Joe
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Joe
I have family members and friends who are nuns and they are the most delightful and caring people.
Erin
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Hi Erin,
Sorry, guilty of generalizing.....I should have said some nuns......did you watch the film?
Joe
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I was reading this thread and it made me cry I spent a lot of my childhood and my early teens in the goodshepards convent in cork and it was discusting what they were allowed to do to us. I have so many times wondered why? As a result of my upbringing I am determind to trace my roots. I also wonder what happened to a lot of the children that I grew up with. I have met up with some and others have died along the way but some children were shipped out never to be heard of again. I guess I was one of the lucky ones. ???
Love Anne
Ps. I watched the film before it was released and it was only the tip of the iceberg of what went on.
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Anne
Let me know if I can help in any way.
Erin ;)
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I know its Nov.06 you posted your notice for St.Patricks Navan Road Dublin,But mabe you still have information on it.My mother was born to a single mother 3/6/1931 they arrived to St.Patricks on the 18/05/1931.She remained there untill 11/11/1935 where she was placed in a house in Lucan Co.Dublin.My information might help you or you might have information to help me.
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Cathy
This is the photo I promised you in thePM
Erin :)
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hi i was in st patricks home navan road as a baby for over a year untill i was adoptied i live just behind it and would see the girls going to the shop most were from the country, it lay idel for years and then it was knocked down to build houses it looked like a sad deery place
emma
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Hi Emma,What year were you in St.Patricks?My Mother was there in 1931-1935.Thank You Cathy.
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I was there in 1970 to 1971 hope this helps
emma
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May 9 1960 was when I was born at the home. I was stripped of my name and my heritage and sent to the states. Today I read in a post that girls who were pregnant went there to protect the Irish moral code, for the years of crap and pain I've walked I certainly hope the moral code was upheld.
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Hello Tout Pret
I was very sorry to read your post. I have done considerable work for a lady who was placed there by her mother and did not know of her background. Over many years I came to fit to gether her background.
Maybe if you send me a pm I may be able to pass on some information which may help if you are searching
best wishes
Erin
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Hello Tout Pret
I was very sorry to read your post. I have done considerable work for a lady who was placed there by her mother and did not know of her background. Over many years I came to fit to gether her background.
Maybe if you send me a pm I may be able to pass on some information which may help if you are searching
best wishes
Erin
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Hello Tout Pret
Did you send a message ?
It does not appear to have come up.
Erin
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Members need to have made 3 posts before access to the PM system is available.
Dara.
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Think Erin means that Tout Prett posted a message which was only quoting her earlier post. Hopefully they will be back to post here again.
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Yes I'm not sure what happened there hope to hear again from Tout Prett Thanks for your help.
Erin
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Hello Erin,Its been a while since I posted.I still have had no luck finding the d.o.b for my Grandmother,whom was in St.Patricks on the Navan Road Dublin in 1931 with my Mother.When you helped your friend did she find her Mothers d.o.b,and if she did where did she get it from.I tried the hospital where my mother was born under the F.O.I.act but had no joy.Thanks Cathy Kelly
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Sorry to go slighty off topic, i was adopted out of St patricks Mother and baby home in 1974.
I am currently researching this home mostly to do with the vaccine trials and whether they were not stopped in 1973 as some reports suggest.
All of the records have now been moved form St louises Adoption society, or are being shared with the new records management unit. I was informed of this a few days ago.
I am really interested in whether the vaccine trials stopped or not as i know of one family member and another family friend that was there that had bad reactions.
I am residing in Australia now, but if i get any information about earlier years at this home i will post it here.
Oh i have read all the reports in the child abuse commission and i really feel for the people that have never really been satisfied with the aspect of the commission.
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I am deseparately trying to find my birth mother. She was in St. Patricks Navan Road from February 1966 until July 1966 (she was supposed to be there until August but I was adopted early). If there is anyone out there who was in St. Patricks at the same time as my mother would they contact me as I would love to know if they remember her. The name on my birth cert doesn't appear to be correct. I have her name (real or not) and a little bit of information about her. If you think you might be able to help, no matter how small, please get in touch. Thanks x
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Hi all. I did a quick google on St Patrick's navan road and came upon this forum so decided to register as I was myself adopted from here in 1975.
I have never had much interest in opening a can of worms but since I have had my own children and I see the resemblance of me in them , the curious soul in me started. Still not sure how far I wanna take this yet , what sort of contact I would like to have . Got in touch with barnardos who are sending out some forms to fill in as I don't the agency that was used and don't want to ask my mother as I am sure it will bring up history that maybe does want to be uncovered.
Any tips or advise , should I open up a new thread as I don't wanna take up someone else's thread with my info, many thanks again look forward to hearing from anyone n regards.
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To find out which adoption agency handled your adoption you need to write to the Adoption Authority of Ireland, Shelbourne Road, Dublin 4 (you might want to check this address!). Adoption Rights Alliance have a website www.adoptionrightsalliance.com which will give you lots of information. Alternatively on facebook there is adoptionrightsalliance and also beyond adoption ireland. You might like to check these out. Hope this is of some help to you. :)
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Thanks for ur reply , I have sent in the forms to find out which agency was used.
More interested in people's experience in actually tracing there birth mother and to what extent did they have to go to and was it positive , thanks agin for replying
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I traced my birth mother myself last year. It was an emotional roller coaster. The end result was that she was disgusted that I found her and didn't want anything to do with me. But I now know where I come from, who I am related to (on my birth mother's side as she says she does not remember my father's name) and have some medical history. I have two half brothers as well. At one point in my life I owned a house 5 mins away from one of my half brothers, my uncle and grandmother. They now live only 25 mins away. I am in the town regularly. But everyone deserves to know where they come from, if only to know who to stay away from. The last thing you would want for your children is for them to meet someone, fall in love and find out they are related by birth (which has happened). Good luck if you decide to search. Whilst I always say to people to go through 'the system' as my birth mother said she didn't want contact the social worker closed my file with me knowing very little so that is why I did my own search. Do not expect anything to happen quickly, most letters take 12 weeks to be answered so it is a long road.
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Just to say as well that for me I had traced 9 possible women when I got a bit of good luck and finally found my birth mother. For some it's a simple straightforward process. They go into the GRO and get their birth certs and trace easily but for others they are still searching 15, even 20 years on. They just want to know. It's not going to be easy and you will need people there for support and advice. There is an informal gathering on Saturday at 4.00pm in Dublin (The Goat Grill in Goatstown, Co. Dublin). All are welcome if you feel you might like to listen to stories and also learn what we are trying to do to bring new legislation in for information and trace.
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Thanks for that I'm actually not going to be round Saturday I'm down in limerick for the match but thanks for offer, very kind, maybe u could let me know about the next one, so did it work well for you
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Dreamweaver
Good luck to you and I hope you have success.
I visited Ireland many times on my friends behalf. There are a lot of closed doors in Ireland. You just have to keep knocking!
My quest took many years. I found this site very very useful , wonderful helpful people.
If you are ever in Dublin take a stroll to the Northern Area Health Board, Child care services Park House North Circular Road. Dublin 7
I went there as the records are kept there. I spoke to a very nice person called Frances Melia. she was very helpful to me.
Best wishes
Erin
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Just to remember that while the records of some adoption agencies are at Park House you will not be allowed access to those records. The most you will get is non-identifying information only. The law in Ireland has not changed for 59 years. We are still not allowed to see our adoption files.
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hi there did you find out any info on st pat navan road my grand mother was born there and i finding it hard to get birth cert for her she was born in 1935. *
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Theresa. If you know the date of birth of your grandmother you could go into the GRO yourself and obtain her birth cert. The website www.adoptionrightsalliance.com as a section on tracing and is quite informative. Having spent 9 years searching on and off I finally met my birth mother on the 2nd August 2011. She gave me an hour of her time and then told me to go. She was very involved in the catholic church and had an image to upkeep within that church. Her loss I guess. But never give up searching.
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hi gfmason,thank you for that info ,i have only got the year she was born she past away on the 10th of feb 1987.ive got a death cert for her ,im sorry to hear your news i think it takes alot of bravery to do what you did ,because you dont no what the out come will be ,and YES it is your mothers loss ,i wish you every happyness ,theresa ,*.
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Hi, I was just wondering does anyone know what it was like for children growing up in st.patricks home on navan road from 1947 till the late 1950s. My grandmother was born there and lived there until she was 11 or 12. I've read a lot about what it was like there for mothers but not much about the children. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks Cliona
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Hi all,
I am trying to find information on my grandmother, who was brought to Liverpool to give birth in 1955, but I think she spent some time in St. Patricks in 1954/5. Does anyone know how to begin such a search? I'm not looking for specific contacts but mostly medical histories etc. Cheers :)
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I was a student midwife in St James in 1980 & 81 and remember many of the St Pats girls coming in for their deliveries but cannot recall any names. What I do recall was that we (students) cared very much for them in whatever way we could (as did the qualified midwives) as we were so close in age and their situation could have been ours (well, some of us) due to the attitude to pregnant single girls at the time. We did our best to help & support them through labour - laughed & cried with some. Most went back to St Pats with their baby. However I can recall one poor girl who had to leave her baby in hospital due to illness (something simple) and knew baby was being placed for adoption & she would never see baby again - it was heartrending and we just hugged her & cried with her. It was such a different time - it was just accepted that that was the way things were & there was no option or support to raise a child alone. Even though we talked a lot to the girls I cannot remember any tales of being mistreated in the home.
This really is just to say that if you were born in these years in St James, your Mum would have had very good care and kindness as did the new arrivals. Wishing you all happiness and peace in your searches. X
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Now is the time with the upcoming elections to really press these future government candidates who will be knocking at your door canvassing.The so called Freedom of Information Act what a laugh they only let you know what they want you to know not what you want to know.
They should be bombarded with questions relating to this topic and watch them squirm and try and to get around it,tell them you are not interested in their false promises on other matters but try and provoke a response on this topic and tell them to come back when they can change it and put it right.
The Government and Church are supposed to be separate it looks like Dev's little legacy of Holy Catholic Ireland still lives on and its damn near time for change and a big issue made of it.
I was born and raised a catholic but no longer practice due to the hypocrisy uncovered in the last twenty years or so.
Sorry to go on so but my heart bleeds for these poor unfortunates who are being stifled by this administration.
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I haven't read this topic before and am moved by MDavz's kindness in posting and Dathai's post urging Irish voters to press for Freedom of Information. For over thirty years i have tried to assist a friend with an adoption issue and hit brick walls. That adoptionrightsalliance site which was mentioned by an earlier poster has now given me some hope.
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HI I AM ALSO LOOKING FOR INFORMATION ON A CATHERINE MC QUIRE WHO WAS BORN IN ST PATRICKS NURSING HOME AND MY SELF I WAS BORN THEIR AND THEN ADOPTED OUT TO A FAMILY IN EAST WALL DUBLIN I AM TRYING TO LOCATE ANY SIBLINGS OR COUSINS CONNECTED TO ME MY MUM NOW LIVES IN ENGLAND SHE WAS BORN IN DUBLIN IN A HOSPITAL OR NAME WAS KATLEEN MC QUIRE CATHERINE HER MUM GIVE BIRTH TO HER ON THE 9/02/1945 AND THEN MY MUM GOT SENT TO THE NUNS HAS ANY ONE OUT THERE LOOKING OR CAN HELP ME IN MY SEARCH
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There is probably a key on your keyboard that turns Caps off.