James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to offer my thoughts on the commission of investigation into mother and baby homes. I thank the Minister, Deputy Reilly, for all his work and being present for this motion.

Deputy Buttimer mentioned homes in Tuam, Cork and other parts of the country. One of the country's largest mother and baby homes was in County Westmeath. In 1934, the Cork-based order Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary bought the Pollard manor house and estate in Castlepollard. They built a hospital and a church and started a mother and child home, which lasted until 1971. Young pregnant women used to arrive in Castlepollard having travelled from all parts of the midlands, and some arrived on the bus from Dublin. There were up to 120 girls in the home at any one time, and many of them had been sent there by their families for the supposed sin of falling pregnant out of wedlock.

What I find most shocking about the home in Castlepollard, something I learned from speaking to a person who was there, was the great lengths to which the staff went to ensure the girls where hidden away from public view and the eye of the local community. On admission to the home, the girls were given a different first name. Contact between the people of Castlepollard and the home was kept to an absolute minimum and neither the girls nor the staff ventured outside the complex gates. Perhaps even more astonishing was that when two girls came from the same area, every effort was made to keep them apart by locating them in different parts of the home. Several accounts have been provided about the harshness of the regime.

Last summer, the Westmeath Examinernoted the concerns once raised by a councillor, James Fagan. In January 1945, he claimed that "inmates" at the institution were being compelled to do manual work in the fields. He said the girls had to cut timber and wield heavy sledges in all kinds of weather, clad in overalls. He described the conditions as uncivilised.

According to Adoption Rights Now, there may be as many as 500 babies buried in the surrounds at Castlepollard but, as with most of these institutions, there is a lack of concrete evidence as to how many are buried and their location. However, it is not the "little angels" plot that gets the most attention from visitors; rather, it is the high wall and walled garden directly opposite.

Anyone who has visited this wall will have been greeted by an eerie sight. Along it, about ten to 18 inches apart, there are a countless number of iron nails bulging from the wall. They are of varying lengths and heights off the ground, and are placed at irregular intervals. Any local historian or member of the community will tell visitors that these nails are headstones and are all that is left to remind us that a human life once existed and is now interred there.

The mother and baby home in Castlepollard is only one of the homes that this commission will investigate. Hundreds of children were born in this home, many of whom now live in the United States, the United Kingdom or across Europe, and may not even know their original birthplace. I received at least four letters from persons who are now in their 50s and 60s seeking information. I was not able to help, but I tried my best.

I hope this commission will play a part in healing the scars that many of these women and their young children, now adults, have had to carry throughout their lives. I commend the Minister on all of his work on this important issue. Given the age profile of the mothers, I hope the commission carries out its investigation in a timely manner and I look forward to a favourable outcome.

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