Republic of Shame: How Ireland Punished 'Fallen Women' and Their Children

Until alarmingly recently, the Catholic Church, acting in concert with the Irish state, operated a network of institutions for the concealment, punishment and exploitation of "fallen women." In the Magdalene laundries, girls and women were incarcerated and condemned to servitude. And in the mother-and-baby homes, women who had become pregnant out of wedlock were hidden from view, and in most cases their babies were adopted&;sometimes illegally. Mortality rates in these institutions were shockingly high, and the discovery of a mass infant grave at the mother-and-baby home in Tuam made news all over the world. The Irish state has commissioned investigations. But the workings of the institutions and of the culture that underpinned it - a shame-industrial complex&;have long been cloaked in secrecy and silence. For countless people, a search for answers continues. Caelainn Hogan&;a brilliant young journalist, born in an Ireland that was only just starting to free itself from the worst excesses of Catholic morality&;has been talking to the survivors of the institutions, to members of the religious orders that ran them, and to priests and bishops. She has visited the sites of the institutions, and studied Church and state documents that have much to reveal about how they operated. Reporting and writing with great curiosity, tenacity and insight, she has produced a startling and often moving account of how an entire society colluded in this repressive system, and of the damage done to survivors and their families. In the great tradition of Anna Funder's Stasiland and Barbara Demick's Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea, Republic of Shame is an astounding portrait of a deeply bizarre culture of control.
'At least in The Handmaid's Tale they value babies, mostly. Not so in the true stories here.' Margaret Atwood Until alarmingly recently, the Catholic Church, acting in concert with the Irish state, operated a network of institutions for the concealment, punishment and exploitation of 'fallen women'. In the Magdalene laundries, girls and women were incarcerated and condemned to servitude. And in the mother-and-baby homes, women who had become pregnant out of wedlock were hidden from view, and in most cases their babies were adopted - sometimes illegally. Mortality rates in these institutions were shockingly high, and the discovery of a mass infant grave at the mother-and-baby home in Tuam made news all over the world. The Irish state has commissioned investigations. But the workings of the institutions and of the culture that underpinned it - a shame-industrial complex - have long been cloaked in secrecy and silence. For countless people, a search for answers continues. Caelainn Hogan - a brilliant young journalist, born in an Ireland that was only just starting to free itself from the worst excesses of Catholic morality - has been talking to the survivors of the institutions, to members of the religious orders that ran them, and to priests and bishops. She has visited the sites of the institutions, and studied Church and state documents that have much to reveal about how they operated. Reporting and writing with great curiosity, tenacity and insight, she has produced a startling and often moving account of how an entire society colluded in this repressive system, and of the damage done to survivors and their families. In the great tradition of Anna Funder's Stasiland and Barbara Demick's Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea - both winners of the Samuel Johnson Prize - Republic of Shame is an astounding portrait of a deeply bizarre culture of control.'(A] furious, necessary book' Sinéad Gleeson'Achingly powerful ... There will be many people who don't want to read Republic of Shame, for fear it will be too much, too dark, too heavy. Please don't be afraid. Read it. Look it in the eye' Irish Times'A must read for everyone' Lynn Ruane'Republic of Shame is a careful, sensitive and extremely well-written book - but it is harrowing. It would break your heart in two' Ailbhe Smyth'Hogan's captivatingly written stories of people who were consigned to what she calls the "shame-industrial complex" puts faces - many old now, and lined with pain - to the clinical data. ... Brilliant' Sunday Times'Utterly brilliant. Please read it' Marian Keyes'Riveting, immensely insightful and horrifically recognisable' Emma Dabiri'Compelling ... devastatingly human, (Republic of Shame] will make you shake with sadness and anger' RTÉ Guide'(A] sensitive, can't-look-away book ... Through moving stories, Hogan shows how the past is still present' NPR'A beautifully written and impeccably researched book ... We need more books like this' Caitriona Palmer'A vital and damning portrait of Ireland's mother and baby homes' GCN.ie'I've laughed, cried & RAGED reading this book' Taryn De Vere'Caelainn's book brings real people to the fore' Hot Press'A gripping, eye-opening and challenging read ... Hogan sheds light on the darkest corners of our recent history in Ireland, but also holds up a mirror to today' Dublin Inquirer 'Caelainn Hogan's harrowing account of the "shame industrial complex" shows how the legacy of Ireland's treatment of "fallen women" remains part of the scenery of modern life' Totally Dublin'For anyone interested in understanding modern Ireland. A compelling and beautifully written investigation into institutions for "fallen women" and the culture which facilitated them' Siobhán Fenton