Frances Finnegan traces the development of Ireland's Magdalen Asylums--homes that were founded in the mid-nineteenth century for the detention of prostitutes undergoing reform. The inmates of these asylums were discouraged-and many forcibly prevented-from leaving and sometimes were detained for life. Put to work without pay in adjoining laundries, these women were subject to penance, harsh discipline, enforced silence, and prayer. Their hair was cropped, and they were made to wear drab and shapeless clothing. Forbidden to mention their past lives, their children taken away, the inmates themselves were referred to as children and forced to address the nuns as "Mother." As the numbers of prostitutes began to dwindle, the church looked elsewhere for this free labor, targeting other "fallen" women such as unwed mothers and wayward or abused girls. Some were incarcerated simply for being "too beautiful," and therefore in danger of sin. Others were mentally retarded. Most of them were brought to the asylums by their families or priests. Unbelievably, the last of these asylums was closed only in 1996. Drawing on previously unpublished material, Finnegan presents case histories of individual women and their experiences in Magdalen homes, which claimed some 30,000 women in all. She looks at the social consequences of such a system, and ponders how it was able to survive into the late twentieth century, right through the feminist campaign for women's rights. Do Penance or Perish is the first study of this shameful episode in Irish history.
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"She provides valuable information about the nature of Magdalen asylum system in Ireland." --History: Review of Books
"The definitive account of the Magdalen Asylums..." --The Guardian
"Frances Finnegan's pioneering works on poverty and prostitution in Victorian Britain are classics, and so is this beautifully-produced book, the eagerly-awaited fruit of two decades' research. This is what social history should be... This excellent book represents a coming of age for Irish women's history... This is 'nasty' women's history; as feminist historians we will have to find a way of understanding (without excusing) women who perpetrated and perpetuated cruelty and inhumanity." --Women's Studies
"There is much fascinating detail, prompting questions about class, power, and religion... Frances Finnegan, provocatively sympathetic to her subject, has written a book that ascribes significance to lives that were carefully hidden" --Saothar, the Journal of the Irish Labour History Society
"The definitive account of the Magdalen Asylums..." --The Guardian
"Frances Finnegan's pioneering works on poverty and prostitution in Victorian Britain are classics, and so is this beautifully-produced book, the eagerly-awaited fruit of two decades' research. This is what social history should be... This excellent book represents a coming of age for Irish women's history... This is 'nasty' women's history; as feminist historians we will have to find a way of understanding (without excusing) women who perpetrated and perpetuated cruelty and inhumanity." --Women's Studies
"There is much fascinating detail, prompting questions about class, power, and religion... Frances Finnegan, provocatively sympathetic to her subject, has written a book that ascribes significance to lives that were carefully hidden" --Saothar, the Journal of the Irish Labour History Society
About the Author
Frances Finnegan is at Waterford Institute of Technology.
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44 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Boring, mistitled.,
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This review is from: Do Penance or Perish: Magdalen Asylums in Ireland (Paperback)
After seeing, and enjoying the film "The Magdalen Sisters" I wanted to find more factual information about the subject. This was the only book available.
I was, unfortunately, VERY disappointed. The book is poorly written; the author jumping from one subject to another rather than following any logical pattern. She looks at not only the Magdalen Asylums in Ireland (as the title implies)but 'rescue homes' for prostitutes run by a variety of organizations, and located in both Ireland and England. The main focus of the book (such as it is) is on early to mid-19th century institutions. At that time the asylums and homes were used almost exclusively by prostitutes, and attendence was purely voluntary. (The author notes that most women left after only a few months, unwilling or unable to cope with the strict rules.) The book barely touches on the more recent history of the asylums. (It was mostly in the mid-to-late 20th century that they were inhabited primarily by unwed mothers.)
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rescue work, rescue movement, rescue homes, hospital chaplain, penitentiary system, consecrated penitents, female penitentiary, subjected districts, certified hospital, venereal patients, young penitents, poor penitents, ironing room Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New Ross, The Good Shepherd Magdalen Asylum, Industrial School, Lock Hospital, Cork Annals, Select Committee, Miss Farrell, Cork Register of Penitents, Limerick Register of Penitents, Royal Commission, Contagious Diseases Acts, Citadel of Piety, Never Free From Their Espionage, Waterford Home, Irish Houses, Mother Devereux, Magdalen Home, Mother General, Limerick Asylum, Waterford Asylum, Mother House, Waterford Register of Penitents, Cork Asylum, Euphrasia Pelletier, Richard Devereux Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
rescue work, rescue movement, rescue homes, hospital chaplain, penitentiary system, consecrated penitents, female penitentiary, subjected districts, certified hospital, venereal patients, young penitents, poor penitents, ironing room Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New Ross, The Good Shepherd Magdalen Asylum, Industrial School, Lock Hospital, Cork Annals, Select Committee, Miss Farrell, Cork Register of Penitents, Limerick Register of Penitents, Royal Commission, Contagious Diseases Acts, Citadel of Piety, Never Free From Their Espionage, Waterford Home, Irish Houses, Mother Devereux, Magdalen Home, Mother General, Limerick Asylum, Waterford Asylum, Mother House, Waterford Register of Penitents, Cork Asylum, Euphrasia Pelletier, Richard Devereux Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
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