Repeal the Seal!
Bastard Nation Activities in Ireland
Letter to the Hon. Bertie Ahern, Dec 10, 2003
Action Alert: Urgent: Mother and Baby Homes Commission Archive, October 14, 2020
Bastard Nation Letter to the Oireachtas, October 14, 2020
Member Responses to BN Letter Regarding Mother and Baby Home Archives
Bastard Nation Repeal the Seal, October 29, 2020
Activist, Search and Support
The Adoption Support Network of Ireland is the best internet source for bastard activism, search and support in the Irish Republic.
- Adoption Rights Alliance
- Adoption Support Network of Ireland
- Adoption Support Network of Ireland (Facebook)
- Adoption Support Networks’ Timeline of Ireland ‘s Legacy of Shame
- Justice for Magdalenes
- culchie.works, a blog by Mari Tatlow Steed
Magdalene Laundries
- The Magdalene Story
- How Ireland Hid It’s Own Dirty Laundry, New York Times, August 3, 2003
- BN Letter to the Hon. Bertie Ahern, Dec 10, 2003
- Ghosts, a poem by BN Founding Foundling Gavi Person
- Justice for Daughters of the Laundries, Irish Times, February 2, 2013
- 2000 Irish Children Illegally Adopted in US from Magdalene Laundries, Irish Central, February 5, 2013
- Report: Irish Government Oversaw Unpaid Workhouses, Salon, February 5, 2013
- Justice for Magdalenes: Restorative Justice and Reparations Scheme for Survivors of Magdalene Laundries Survivors
- Report of the Interdepartmental Committee to establish the facts of State Involvement with the Magdalene Laundries
- The Woman who Opened our Eyes (a tribute to journalist Mary Rafferty) Irish Times, February 9, 2013
- Magdalene Laundries Report Finds Direct State Involvement, The Journal, May 2, 2013
- Religious Orders Offer Apology for Abuse in Magdalene Laundries, The Journal, May 2, 2013
- We Still Live in a Magdalene Ireland, The Journal, May 2, 2013
- The Woman Who Exposed Ireland;s Magdalene Laundries, Philadelphia Magazine, May 23, 2013
- Irish leader apologizes for adoption “that robbed children” of their identity, New York Times, May 30, 2018
- Column: So you think adoption has nothing to do with you? The Journal, April 15, 2018
- Adoption Bill delay due to concerns over pare nts’ privacy rights.RTE, June 11, 2018
- These Women Survived Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries. They’re Ready to Talk.New York Times, June 15, 2018
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- Irish adoption authorities confirm many of 15,000 illegal adoptions sent to USA, Irish Central, June 13, 2018
- Pope denounces forced adoptions of Irish children born to unwed mothers, Chicago Tribune, August 26, 2018
- Heartbreaking report reveals over 2,000 Irish children were ‘sold’ to the US for adoption from Mother and Baby Homes, Irish Post, October 16, 2018
- Special Report: Women forced to give up babies for adoption still failed by State bodies, Irish Examiner, December 3, 2018
- Nuns in baby mix-up scandal ‘all dead’ – religious order claims it cannot solve riddle, Irish News, June 11, 2019
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Morning Ireland Extra: Tuam Mother and Baby Home, Part 2, RTE June 14, 2019
- The girls of Bessborough, BBC News,January 2020
- First illegal adoption case launched in High Court. Irish Times. January 31, 2020
- Magdalene survivors insist State not fulfilling terms of compensation scheme. Irish Times, June 25, 2020
- Magdalene laundry survivors still waiting for medical benefits promised to them, Irish Examiner, June 25, 2020
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What the Tuam Oral History Project tells us about Ireland’s past, RTE, July 30, 2020
- European Commission to investigate mother and baby homes. Irish Examiner, October 9, 2020
The hidden story of African-Irish children. BBC. December 4, 2020 (Links to other BBC articles in story)
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Books/Journals
- Ireland’s Magdalen Laundries and the Nation’s Architecture of Containment by James M Smith
- Eire-Ireland Journal, v55, #1-2. Towards Transnational Justice in Ireland? Addressing Leagacies of Harm
Videos/Films
- Magdalen Laundries – Joni Mitchell
- Maureen O’Sullivan: A former Magdalen resident speaks out
- Magdalen Laundry – Cork
- The Magdalen Sisters
Medical Experiments on Irish Babies
- Hundreds of Irish babies used in medical research and dissection, IrishCentral.com, May 27, 2012
- Religious orders allowed over 2000 Irish children used in Medical experiments, Irish Central, June 7, 2014
- Nun admits children involved in medical trials, June 9m 2014, Irish News June 8, 2014
- Vaccine Trials: Unravelling the drug trial sandal, Irish Examiner, November 17, 2016
- Chamber of Horrors,” Babies starved, sold, experimented on, Irish Central March 8, 2017
- No inquiries planned into reports of Irish infants used in medical research, The Journal, October 7, 2017
The Florida to Ireland Adoption Connection
- A Modest Proposal by BN Founding Foundling Mari Tatlow SteedIt has come to my attention that the Adoption Authority of Ireland recently met with the U.S. Department of State with a view toward establishing a bilateral adoption agreement that would allow for the export of available U.S. citizens to Ireland for purposes of adoption, particularly from Florida. I understand this is in response to continued insatiable demand by prospective adopting couples in Ireland, who have been thwarted by now closed-off avenues such as Vietnam, Russia and other ‘sending’ countries…
- Irish flock to Florida for child adoption opportunities, Irish Central, May 27, 2012. The new study also highlights that more children were adopted from the US by Irish residents in 2011 than during the nine years from 2000 to 2008…
International
- Nearly 5,000 children adopted by parents in Ireland since 1991, Irish Times. January 8, 2020
- Adoption Authority cannot lawfully refuse to register adoptions, Supreme Court rules. Breaking News Ireland, October 19, 2020
Links to related scandal and legislation
- Column: So you think adoption has nothing to do with you? The Journal, April 15, 2018
- Tusla says it cannot investigate all of its adoption records. Irish Times, May 31, 2018
- The State has a duty to tell adoptehttps://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/tusla-says-it-cannot-investigate-all-of-its-adoption-records-1.3515603es the truth. Irish Times, June 2, 2018
- Bill to restore birth certs for illegally adopted, Irish Examnier, January 25, 2019
- Adoption law changes approved by Cabinet, Irish Times, February 26, 2019
- Adoption proposal ‘doesn’t mean a hell of a lot’ says rights group, Irish Examiner, February 27, 2019
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Nothing prepared me for what I found in Irish adoption records. Irish Central, April 23, 2019
- Zappone declines to give deadline for publication of report into illegal birth registrations, Irish Examiner, May 30, 2019
- Zappone hope Adoption Bill will pass by end of year Irish Times, May 31, 2018
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Adopted people have a right to their identity says Rabbitte, Galway Daily, June 13, 2019
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Commissioner apologises to former garda investigated over premarital sex, Irish Times, June 15, 2019
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Jennifer O’Connell: It was not just in Gilead that women were stripped of their names, Irish Times, October 5, 2019
- Tusla relying on ‘flimsy grounds’ to justify redacting records and birth certs, Irish Examiner, October 7, 2019
- No automatic access to birth records for adopted people, RTE, December 11, 2019
- A fifth of adoptees who applied to see birth certs in 2019 denied access, Irish Times, July 17, 2020
- Adoption and access to birth certificates. Irish Times, July 21, 2020
- Opposition to bill which will seal Mother & Baby Home Commission archive, Irish Examiner, October 11, 2020
- Mother-and-baby homes archive ‘not put beyond reach,’ says O’Gorman, RTE, October 13, 2020
- Senators express ‘serious concern’ that mother and baby home records will be sealed for 30 years, Irish Examiner, October 14, 2020
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Minister unaware of what is in sealed mother and baby home records. The Times, October 15, 2020
- Irish Examiner View: Who benefits when truth over Mother and Baby Homes report is silenced? Irish Examiner, October 20, 2020
- Anger grows over sealing of mother and baby home records for 30 years, Irish Examiner, October 20, 2020
- Dáil passes the Government’s Mother and Baby Homes Bill.. The Journal October 22, 2020
- Government breaking the law by sealing mother and baby homes records, says DPC. Irish Examiner, October 23, 2020
- ‘Morally unfeasible’ to seal mother-and-baby home records. The Times, October 26, 2020
- Mother and baby homes: Michael D Higgins signs bill into law. BBC. October 26, 2020
- Mother and baby homes: Adoptees and survivors can access information. BBC. October 28,, 2020
- Mother and Baby Homes report to highlight ‘massive societal failure, Irish Times, December 30, 2020
Video
Updated January 30, 2020
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