"They changed my name, they changed my birthday, my whole childhood was gone."

[Rob Northall]

Very Emotional and Poignant!

Watch when you are safe to do so!

May be Triggering

WATCH: "They changed my name, they changed my birthday, my whole childhood was gone." Survivors of Ireland's Magdalene Laundries share their stories. Read more here: https://t.co/gIuVOOp5p7 pic.twitter.com/91b81MUNKS

— BBC News NI (@BBCNewsNI) June 6, 2018

Emotional 'welcome home' for Magdalene survivors in Dublin

By Christina McSorley & Erinn Kerr BBC News NI

• 6 June 2018

Irish President Michael D Higgins has apologised to thousands of women forced to work in the country's Magdalene Laundries.

Hundreds turned out in Dublin to welcome home the Magdalene survivors.

It was the first time they had gathered together at home, including those who emigrated to the UK, USA and Australia.

The laundries were Catholic-run workhouses where 10,000 women and girls were forced to do unpaid, manual labour between 1922 and 1996.

A 2013 report found the Irish state was directly involved in their confinement.

Arriving by Garda escort, the 220 women and their families were given a rapturous reception.

The atmosphere was emotional - it was a day many of the women never thought they would see.

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What were the Magdalene laundries?

• Originally termed Magdalene Asylums, the first in Ireland was opened in Dublin in 1765, for Protestant girls

• First Catholic home was founded in Cork in 1809

• Envisaged as short-term refuges for "fallen women" they became long-term institutions and penitents were required to work, mostly in laundries on the premises

• They extended to take in unmarried mothers, women with learning difficulties and girls who had been abused

• Between 1922 and 1996 there were 10 such laundries in the Republic of Ireland

• The women toiled behind locked doors unable to leave after being admitted and while the laundries were paid, they received no wages

• The last Magdalene asylum in Ireland closed in Waterford in 1996

• The congregations that ran them were the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity, the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy, the Religious Sisters of Charity and the Sisters of the Good Shepherd

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Earlier on Tuesday, the women attended a reception hosted by President Michael D Higgins.

He apologised to the women saying they had been "failed by the state".

"A combination of stigma, shame and an unreceptive society condemned so many women to concealing their experiences, their trauma, their hurt," President Higgins said.

"In recent years the silence has been broken and you all have helped to let the light into some very dark corners of our shared past."

Image caption Theresa Ryan said the welcome was "bittersweet".

Theresa Ryan spent her childhood in the Good Sheppard in Limerick.

"I was three or four when they took me," she told BBC News NI.

"They changed my name, they changed my birthday, my whole childhood was gone."

Reflecting on the welcome, she said it was bittersweet.

"I'm excited but sad at the same time."

'Never Again'

Gabrielle O'Gorman has been living in England for almost 50 years.

She was placed in a Magdalene Laundry when she was 17 years old.

Image caption "People believe us now", said Gabrielle O'Gorman

"Today has been wonderful, really amazing.

"People believe us now. They never did.

"Now it's there, it's in the history books, and I'm thrilled about that.

"I hope it will never happen again," she added.

'It was like prison'

Mairie O'Conolough spent five years in a Magdalene Laundry.

She said while it's difficult to forgive the people that put her there, seeing the support from the well-wishers was "wonderful".

"It was like prison.

"I hope no young child, girl, or baby will ever go through what we went through."

Image caption Mairie O'Conolough said it was "wonderful" to see the crowd who welcomed them in Dublin

The reception in Dublin city centre was organised by the group Dublin Honours Magdalenes.

The gathering fulfils two key aspects of the Magdalene Restorative Justice Scheme, which is to bring together women who spent time in the institutions and also to gather views on how the Magdalene Laundries should be remembered by future generations.

In 2013, then Taoiseach (prime minister) Enda Kenny apologised to the women on behalf of the state.

[jack colleton]

Shared On Twitter.

[jack colleton]

Yes As Abducted And Detained Child (Concealment Of Birth) I Can Relate.  False Name. False Date Of Birth. People Covering Their Dirty Hand Crimes.

[pauline jackson]

Names gone. hair cut short a number given and no family contact. That was the way the catholic Church cared for children. from that day on we were sinners and thay were there to punish us daily.In every way thay wanted.Pain from the sticks hunger from the lack of food. Tiredness from over working to keep the prison clean so that xeveria and bernadine could see thier reflections in the polished floors.And now the pope is coming to Ireland and treated like a rock star.Instead of paying rightfull compension to the survivers 20 millions is being spent to finance his performance.Poor eire.

[jack colleton]

Awesome Message Pauline!  Spot On!

[pauline jackson]

And that is the start. Then there was the rosary beads with the wire cutting through our fingers.The glu from paper bags the baskets woven and the sewing of clothes for the poor africans.A sick joke compaired to our situation.

[john mc carthy]

I hope all the people of IRELAND take  some blame for what went on in those lAUNDRIES; MOTHER AND BABY HOMES;  ALSO THE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS. I was born in a county home in 1937 and to this day I still don't know what happened to my MOTHER OR TO  WITCH LAUNDRIE SHE WAS PUT INTO. She was taken from me on the day I WAS BORN AND I NEVER HEARD FROM HER AGAIN, MY MOTHER WAS NOT EVEN ALOUD TO REGISTER MY BIRTH THAT WAS DONE BY SOME PERSON FROM THE HOME, TO THIS DAY I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF MY BIRTH CERTIFICATE IS REAL OR FAKE. THAT WAS THE START OF MY LIFE OF HELL, 3 YEARS IN THE COUNTY HOME AND 13 YEARS IN THE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS. NOW I AM GOING ON 81 I WOULD LIKE SOME ANSWERS , WISHFUL THINKING I KNOW. 

[jack colleton]

Yes Indeed I Too  Can Not Be Sure My Birth Certificate Details Are Correct.  Same Old Political Parties Carry A Lot Of Baggage And  We Know The Contents .....