The hidden history of the PFIs: The repatriation of unmarried mothers and their children from England to Ireland in the 1950s and 1960s

Immigrants and Minorities

Volumn 19, Issue 3, 2000, Pages 25-44

  Garrett, Paul Michael ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ETHNIC MINORITY; HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY; REPATRIATION; SINGLE PARENT; SOCIAL EXCLUSION;

IRELAND; UNITED KINGDOM;

EID: 0034870415     PISSN: 02619288     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (117)

1. F. Neal, Sectarian Violence: The Liverpool Experience 1819-1914 (Manchester, 1988), p.97.
2. M.E. Rose, 'Settlement, Removal and the New Poor Law', in D. Fraser (ed.), The New Poor Law in the Nineteenth Century (London, 1976).
3. See M.J. Hickman, Religion, Race and Identity (Aldershot, 1995).
4. Also D.M. MacRaild, 'Irish Immigration and the "Condition of England" Question: The Roots of an Historiographical Tradition', Immigrants and Minorities, Vol.14, No.1 (1995), pp.67-85. Both provide a useful overview of British responses to Irish immigration.
5. See A. O'Hare et al., Mothers Alone? A Study of Women Who Gave Birth Outside of Marriage (Dublin, 1983).
6. CPRSI 47th Annual Report, 1960, pp.2-3.
7. Throughout this article the Catholic Protection and Rescue Society of Ireland, based in Dublin, will be referred to as either 'the Society', or the CPRSI. The Society continues to exist, but is now named Cunamh: Child Care Agency. Importantly, it was not simply unmarried mothers who had migrated on a temporary basis who were repatriated in the way described. One Irish woman, interviewed in the late 1960s, left Ireland when she was eight years old on account of the death of her parents. Having been 'brought up' by her sister in Britain, she did not even know anyone in Ireland when she became pregnant and was repatriated years later. See M.F. Creegan, 'Unmarried Mothers: An Analysis and Discussion of Interviews Conducted in an Irish Mother and Baby Home' (unpublished M.Soc.Sc. dissertation, Dublin, University College, 1967), para 6.21.
8. Brief references to repatriation are also featured in, M. Viney, No Birthright: A Study of the Irish Unmarried Mother and her Child (Dublin, 1966);
9. J. Wallace, 'Unmarried Mothers in Ireland in the Middle Decades of the Twentieth Century' (unpublished M.Phil, dissertation, Dublin, Trinity College, 1995).
10. See L. Marks, 'The Luckless Waifs and Strays of Humanity: Irish and Jewish Immigrant Unwed Mothers in London, 1870-1939', Twentieth Century British History, Vol.3, No.2, (1992), pp.113-8, 126.
11. The Director of an English adoption society granted the writer permission to have access to case files and other documents including annual reports (1948-73) held by his agency. It is not, however, possible to refer to him by name, nor to specify the name of his agency, referred to throughout as the English Catholic Rescue Society (or ECRS), because this might undermine the right to confidentiality of a number of the Irish women referred to in this article who had recourse to the agency in the late-1950s. The real names of the unmarried mothers and their children have been altered: so have the names of the agency staff and some of the place names used.
12. R. Breen, D. Hannan, D. Rottman and C. Whelan, Understanding Contemporary Ireland (Dublin, 1990), p.5.
13. In M. Mahood, The Magdalenes: Prostitution in the Nineteenth Century (London, Routledge, 1990), p.12.
14. See also M. Luddy and C. Murphy (eds.), Women Surviving (Dublin, 1990).
15. CPRSI 46th Annual Report, p.2.
16. Annual Report of the ECRS for 1955.
17. E. Boland, Object Lessons (London, 1996), pp.123-54.
18. See M. Lennon, M. McAdam and J. O'Brien, Across the Water. Irish Women's Lives in Britain (London, 1988);
19. M.J. Hickman and B. Walter, 'Deconstructing Whiteness', Feminist Review, No.50 (1995), pp.5-20;
20. B. Walter, 'Irishness, gender and place', Society and Space, Vol.13 (1995), pp.35-50;
21. B. Gray, 'The Home of Our Mothers and Our Birthright for Ages? Nation, Diaspora and Irish Women', in M. Maynard and P. Purvis (eds.), New Frontiers in Women's Studies; Knowledge, Identity and Nationalism (London, 1996);
22. M. Kanya-Forstner, 'Defining Womanhood: Irish Women and the Catholic Church in Victorian Liverpool', Immigrants & Minorities, Vol.18, Nos.2-3 (1999), pp.168-89;
23. B. Gray, 'Gendering the Irish Diaspora: Questions of Enrichment, Hybridization and Return', Women's International Review, Vol.23, No.2 (2000), pp.167-85;
24. B. Walter Outsiders Inside: Whiteness, Place and Irish Women (London, 2001).
25. Hasia Diner was one of the first to explore the situation of immigrant Irish women's experiences in the United States. See H.R. Diner, Erin's Daughters in America (London, 1983).
26. Marks, 'The Luckless Waifs and Strays of Humanity'.
27. See D.H. Akenson, Let's Stop Talking about Irish Emigration (Liverpool, 1998), p.14.
28. C. Brady (ed.), Interpreting Irish History (Dublin, 1994), is a volume which explores key debates within Irish historiography.
29. M. Luddy, 'An Agenda for Women's History in Ireland, 1500-1900, Part Two: 1800-1900, Irish Historical Studies, Vol.28, No.109 (May 1992), pp.19-39, p.1.
30. See, for example, M. MacCurtain and D.O. Corrain (eds.), Women in Irish Society: The Historical Dimension (Dublin, 1978);
31. M. Cullen, 'Women's History in Ireland', in K. Offen et al. (eds.), Writing Women's History (Bloomington, IN, 1991).
32. A good example of Irish historical revisionism would be D.G. Boyce and A. O'Day (eds.), The Making of Modern Irish History: Revisionism and the Revisionist Controversy (London, 1996).
33. The more traditional approach within Irish historiography is reflected in B. Bradshaw, 'Nationalism and Historical Scholarship in Modern Ireland', Irish Historical Studies, Vol.26, No.104 (Nov. 1989), pp.329-52.
34. Criticism of both approaches, on account of the neglect of women's history is to be found in M. MacCurtain and M. O'Dowd, 'An Agenda for Women's History in Ireland, 1500-1900, Part One: 1500-1800', Irish Historical Studies, Vol.28, No.109 (May 1992), pp.1-19.
35. See also Luddy, 'An Agenda for Women's History in Ireland, 1500-1900, Part Two: 1800-1900'.
36. M. Luddy and C. Murphy (eds.), Women Surviving (Dublin, 1990), p.7.
37. M. Luddy and C. Murphy (eds.), Women Surviving Ibid., pp.5-6.
38. See, for example, J. Hoff and M. Coulter (eds.), Irish Women's Voices Past and Present (Bloomington, IN, 1995).
39. Boland, Object Lessons.
40. See Luddy and Murphy, Women Surviving.
41. Cullen, Women's History in Ireland, p.43.
42. Marks, 'The Luckless Waifs and Strays of Humanity'.
43. See P. O'Sullivan, 'Introduction', in P. O'Sullivan (ed.), Irish Women and Immigration (London, 1995), pp.6-7.
44. Luddy and Murphy, Women Surviving, p.10.
45. J. Robins, The Lost Children: A Study of Charity Children in Ireland 1700-1900 (Dublin, 1980).
46. See D. McLoughlin, 'Workhouses and Irish Female Paupers 1840-1990', in Luddy and Murphy, Women Surviving.
47. See P.M. Garrett, 'The Abnormal Right: The Migration and Repatriation of Irish Unmarried Mothers', Social History, Vol.25, No.3 (2000), pp.330-44;
48. MPHR 'Illegitimate', The Bell, Vol.2, No.3 (1941), pp.78-88;
49. C.J. Barrett, Adoption (Dublin, 1952).
50. For a recent account of life in the early 1950s at a Mother and Baby Home in Bessboro, Cork, see the recollections of J. Goulding, The Light in the Window (Dublin, 1999).
51. MPHR, 'Illegitimate', p.81.
52. See also W.A. Newman, 'Legal Adoption', The Bell, Vol.16, No.4 (Jan. 1951), pp.59-66;
53. J.H. Whyte, Church and State in Modern Ireland (Dublin, 1971).
54. M. Milotte, Banished Babies (Dublin, 1997), p.56.
55. M. Spensky, 'Producers of Legitimacy: Homes for unmarried mothers in the 1950s', in C. Smart (ed.). Regulating Womanhood: Essays on Marriage, Motherhood and Sexuality (London, 1992) p.106.
56. See also S. Humphries, A Secret World of Sex (London, 1988), Ch.3.
57. See J. Bowlby, Child Care and the Growth of Love, 3rd edn (Harmondsworth, 1990).
58. Bowlby in Spensky, 'Producers of Legitimacy: Homes for unmarried mothers in the 1950s', p.108.
59. S. Ferguson and H. Fitzgerald, History of the Second World War: Studies in the Social Services (London, 1954).
60. See J. Fink and K. Holden, 'Pictures from the Margins of Marriage: Representations of Spinsters and Single Mothers in the mid-Victorian Novel, Inter-war Hollywood Melodrama and British Film of the 1950s and 1960s', Gender and History, Vol.11, No.2 (July 1999), pp.233-55.
61. See N. Rose, Governing the Soul: The Shaping of the Private Self (London, 1989).
62. Spensky, 'Producers of Legitimacy: Homes for Unmarried Mothers in the 1950s', p.110.
63. Spensky, 'Producers of Legitimacy: Homes for Unmarried Mothers in the 1950s', p.110. Ibid.
64. V. Wimperis, The Unmarried Mother and Her Child (London, 1960), p.180.
65. Spensky, 'Producers of Legitimacy: Homes for Unmarried Mothers in the 1950s', p.112.
66. J. Pochin, Without a Wedding Ring: Casework with Unmarried Parents (London, 1969), p.128.
67. See D. Howe, P. Sawbridge and D. Hinings, Half a Million Women (Harmondsworth, 1992).
68. Also, J. Logan, 'Birth Mothers and their Mental Health: Uncharted Territory', British Journal of Social Work, Vol.26 (1996), pp.609-35.
69. Case papers on 'Ciara' begin on 8th Sept. 1958.
70. Case papers on 'Maura' begin on 12th May 1958.
71. Case papers on 'Carmel' begin on 14th May 1958.
72. In Mahood, The Magdalenes, p.12.
73. The extracts from the case file of 'Bridget' are from case notes dated 30 October 1958. A number of repatriations were undertaken in co-operation with an adoption society in Cork, not simply with the CPRSI. The 'Father G' referred to is Father James Good. See J. Good, 'Legal Adoption in Ireland', Child Adoption, Vol.65, No.3 (1971), pp.23-7.
74. The extract from the letter to 'Sinead' is dated 14 Nov. 1958.
75. The extract from the case file for 'Teresa' is dated 10 Feb. 1958.
76. The extract from the case file on 'Nora' is dated 3 Oct. 1958.
77. The extract from the letter to 'Mona' is dated 20 Jan. 1959.
78. The extract from the case file on 'Noreen' is dated 14 Oct. 1958.
79. The comments about 'Geileis' feature in a letter dated 13 May 1958.
80. See F.P. Biestek, 'Client Self-Determination', in F.E. McDermott (ed.), Self Determination in Social Work (London, 1975), p.25.
81. W. Wheeler, Imagining Home: Gender, 'Race' and National Identity, 1945-64 (London, 1998), p.120.
82. See A. Brah, Cartographies of Diaspora: Contesting Identities (London, 1996), pp.182-3.
83. See N. Osborough, Borstal in Ireland (Dublin, 1975), p.117.
84. E. Delaney, '"Almost a Class of Helots in an Alien Land": The British State and Irish Immigration, 1921-45', Immigrants and Minorities, Vol.18, Nos.2-3 (July/Nov. 1999).
85. E. Delaney, Immigrants and Minorities, Ibid, p.243.
86. E. Delaney, Immigrants and Minorities, Ibid, p.248.
87. This question was asked by Lieut-Colonel Moore. See Hansard (Commons), 321, col. 147, March 1937.
88. See the more reasoned approach of M. MacDonald, Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs in Hansard (Commons), 329, cols. 2411-2414, 3 Dec. 1937.
89. K. Lunn, 'Irish Labour Recruitment Schemes 1937-1948', Labour History Review, Vol.57, No.3 (1992), pp.20-23.
90. See also '1930s Plan to Deport "Low-Living" Irish', The Irish Post, 14 Aug. 1999.
91. E. Delaney, 'Almost a Class of Helots in an Alien Land', p.252.
92. E. Delaney, 'Almost a Class of Helots in an Alien Land', Ibid., p.257.
93. E. Delaney, 'Almost a Class of Helots in an Alien Land', Ibid., p.259.
94. See R. Miles, Racism after 'Race Relations' (London, 1993), p.133.
95. W. Wheeler, Imagining Home, p.36.
96. Hickman, Religion, Race and Identity, p.210.
97. See Hansard (Commons), cols. 753-757, 6 Nov. 1961.
98. See 'Tory Threat to Immigration Bill', Liverpool Daily Post, 1 Dec. 1961.
99. In M. Russell, 'The Irish Delinquent in England', Studies (Summer 1964), pp.136-49.
100. Wheeler, Imagining Home, p.27.
101. Russell, 'The Irish Delinquent in England', p.144.
102. Minutes of meeting taking place on 11 March 1957. The Merseyside Record Office, Liverpool, holds minutes of the Liverpool Vigilance Association committee meetings and other related papers (1908-1976). (Reference 326VIG).
103. The programme was entitled Special Enquiry and the BBC screened it on 24 October 1956. See the minutes of the Liverpool Vigilance Association committee meeting for 8 October 1956.
104. 'MPs Probe Call Girl Racket in Liverpool', Liverpool Daily Post, 7 Dec. 1961.
105. Minutes Liverpool Vigilance Association Committee meeting, 11 Dec. 1961.
106. Russell, 'The Irish Delinquent in England', p.144.
107. L. Ackers, 'Internal Migration and the Negotiation of Citizenship: The Struggle for Reproductive Self-Determination in Ireland', Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, Vol.18, No.4 (1996), pp.413-28.
108. See also F.O. Ramirez and E.H. McEneaney, 'From Women's Suffrage to Reproduction Rights? Cross-national Considerations', International Journal of Comparative Sociology, Vol.38, Nos.1-2 (1997), pp.6-25.
109. See P. Conroy Jackson, 'Outside the Jurisdiction: Irish Women Seeking Abortion', in A. Smyth (ed.), The Abortion Papers (Dublin, 1992).
110. See R. Fletcher, 'Silences: Irish Women and Abortion', Feminist Review, No.50 (1995), pp.44-66.
111. In U. Barry, 'Movement, Change and Reaction: The Struggle over Reproduction Rights in Ireland', in Smyth, The Abortion Papers.
112. See 'Irish Abortions in Britain up 10.2 per cent', The Irish Times, 27 Aug. 1998.
113. Also 'Abortion Exodus hits new high', The Irish Post, 21 Nov. 1998.
114. F.P. Powell, The Politics of Irish Social Policy 1600-1990 (Dyfed, 1992), p.182.
115. See Smyth, The Abortion Papers.
116. P.M. Garrett 'Notes from the Diaspora: Anti-Discriminatory Social Work Practice, Irish People and the Practice Curriculum', Social Work Education, Vol.17, No.4 (1998), pp.435-49;
117. P.M. Garrett, 'Responding to Irish "Invisibility": Anti-Discriminatory Social Work Practice and the Placement of Irish Children in the UK', Adoption and Fostering, Vol.24, No.1 (2000), pp.23-33.