Do Penance or Perish

Magdalen Asylums in Ireland

Paperback Engels 2004 9780195174601

€ 64,32

In winkelwagen

Levertijd ongeveer 11 werkdagen

Gratis verzonden

Samenvatting

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. Drawing on hitherto unpublished material, Finnegan presents case histories of individual women and their experiences in Magdalen homes, which claimed some 30,000 women in all. Do Penance or Perish is the first study of this shameful episode in Irish history.