UN torture watchdog criticises Ireland on Magdalene Laundries

The Magdalene Laundries were operated by four Catholic religious orders, The Sisters of Mercy, The Sisters of Our Lady of Charity, The Sisters of Charity, and The Good Shepherd Sisters for women who had a child outside marriage.
The United Nations watchdog on torture has criticised Ireland’s prison conditions and accused the state of failing to protect women confined to Catholic Church workhouses.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/state-given-one-year-to-implement-magdalene-recommendations-507954.html#! 

Magdalene women slaved for a Church obsessed with sexuality

Sheila Griffin asks what I meant when I said (Letters, August 24) that Catholic institutions were responsible for the deaths of girls and women who died whilst incarcerated in Magdalene laundries. 
Given that these girls and women lived lives (in some cases, whole lives) of brutality, drudgery, and shame, stripped of all basic human rights — even their names — while working for free for the financial benefit of those Catholic institutions, I think my meaning could hardly be clearer.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/viewpoints/yourview/magdalene-women-slaved-for-a-church-obsessed-with-sexuality-350391.html 

Girl, 12, was hidden in a tunnel when inspectors called

She was 12 when taken from her school in Co Carlow and put in the Good Shepherd Magdalene Laundry in New Ross, Co Wexford, because her father died and mother remarried. Ms Sullivan said she was told the place would further her education, but she never saw her schoolbooks again.
For 48 years she had been haunted by memories of a lost childhood and slave labour and is demanding a full apology from the Government and religious orders for stealing her education, name, identity, and life. “I feel that they are still in denial, but other parts of this report clearly state that we were telling the truth,” she said.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/girl-12-was-hidden-in-a-tunnel-when-inspectors-called-221783.html 

MOTHER AND BABY HOMES COMMISSION OF INVESTIGATION

A Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and a representative sample of County Homes has been established by Order of Government.

The Commission would like to hear from anyone who was resident in or who worked in any of the Mother and Baby Homes or County Homes which are the subject of the investigation. We would also like to hear from people who have personal knowledge about the homes, for example, family members of residents, regular visitors or those who supplied services to the homes. 

http://www.mbhcoi.ie/MBH.nsf/page/index-en 

Caitríona Palmer: ‘I am my mother’s secret child’

Adopted as a baby, the journalist embarked in adulthood on a difficult search for her birth mother. But when she finally met Sarah, things didn’t go quite as expected.

Caitríona Palmer found out that she was adopted on her sixth birthday. Her mother, Mary, told her as they made her bed. It explained why Caitríona had been told she was special her whole life. From that moment a sense of incompleteness grew within her.

http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/caitr%C3%ADona-palmer-i-am-my-mother-s-secret-child-1.2560393 

Aaid those affected by mother-and-baby homes

Free service will help prepare witness statements for commission of investigation. The entrace of the Magdalene laundry on Stanhope Street North in Dublin. A new service will help those affected by the mother-and-baby homes prepare witness statements ahead of the commission of investigation into the homes.
Women and others whose lives were affected by the mother-and-baby homes, including those forcibly adopted as babies, have been urged to avail of a free service to help them prepare witness statements for the commission of investigation into the homes.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/new-project-to-aid-those-affected-by-mother-and-baby-homes-1.2685896 

The Irish times: ‘New project to aid those affected by Mother-and-Baby Homes’

Women and others whose lives were affected by the mother-and-baby homes, including those forcibly adopted as babies, have been urged to avail of a free service to help them prepare witness statements for the commission of investigation into the homes.

Justice for Magdalenes Research (JFMR) and the Adoption Rights Alliance(ARA) have announced a project to offer supp

http://iwssn.org.uk/the-irish-times-new-project-to-aid-those-affected-by-mother-and-baby-homes/ 

About The Irish Survivors

Importantly, women and men who experienced the care system run by religious orders are referred to as ‘Survivors’. After all, whilst these individuals may have been victims of neglect, abuse and assault, they survived it, and deserve to be recognised for their resilience rather than what happened to them.

Women who had children outside of marriage, women accused of being promiscuous or women who were victims of rape and sexual assault were viewed by Irish Catholic leaders, politicians and society as tainted by immorality. As part of their alleged ‘rehabilitation’, the state outsourced institutional care to religious congregations who claimed to put these ‘strayed’ women back onto the path of traditional, Catholic morality. By doing so, the state  abdicated its responsibility and duty of care to vulnerable Irish citizens, many of whom were victims of severe crimes and abuse.

http://iwssn.org.uk/about-irish-survivors/ 

The Irish Women Survivors Support Network (IWSSN)

supports, advises and campaigns for survivors of the Irish institutional care system who live across the UK and attended institutions between the 1930s to 1990s.  Were you resident in a Mother-and-Baby Home in Ireland (either as a mother or a child)? Or do you know someone who was? 

Currently there’s an Investigation looking into these homes and anyone with any information is invited to share it in confidence. The Commission are keen to hear from anyone who was resident in, worked in or had connections with a Mother-and-Baby Home in Ireland. If you have information you’d like to share, you can either travel to Dublin where all of your travel and accommodation expenses will be covered, or  you can speak to the Confidential Committee in early 2016 when they will be taking evidence in the UK.  As with previous enquiries, we are supporting Survivors with giving evidence.

http://iwssn.org.uk/ 

Survivors of Ireland’s notorious homes for ‘fallen women’ where babies were ‘left to die’ speak out

The Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home is notorious for the hundreds of babies and children who died there. Katie Grant meets a group of former “Home Babies” who suffered unimaginable hardships and are determined to expose the truth about the church-run institutions

Marie* beams with pride as she describes her two adult children. Unlike her, they were well-educated, could read and write by the time they started nursery and grew up showered with love and affection. Her joy is plain to see. But the 64-year-old Irish émigré has been keeping a secret their entire lives. Marie was born in the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home, an institution for unmarried mothers, and suffered years of abuse at the convent-run orphanage where she resided.

Magdalene laundries women: Now the truth has come out

The women of the Magdalene laundries have been giving their reaction to this evening's formal apology from the Taoiseach for State involvemet in the laundries.
"I'm so happy. His apology was superb," said one. "For the first time I can stand up and say: 'I'm proud to be Irish'."  Another said: "He's a great man. To see a Taoiseach getting emotional - it was brilliant."

http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/magdalene-laundries-women-now-the-truth-has-come-out-585373.html#! 

VICTORIA WHITE: Protestant abuse history has been swept under the carpet

WE put on our hats on a Sunday morning and march off to church with faith in our hearts and smiles on our faces. We’re the Prods, you see. We don’t abuse children. We’re too busy making chutney and lemonade.
But as for the Catholics? What do you expect when you put men in dresses and tell them they can’t marry? You’re bound to get child abuse, aren’t you? Of course you are.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/viewpoints/columnists/victoria-white/protestant-abuse-history-has-been-swept-under-the-carpet-199687.html 

Magdalene victims not buried in Glasnevin location

Just 33 out of 187 Magdalene women listed on the headstone for High Park laundry in Glasnevin Cemetery are actually buried at that location, a study claims.
The revelation is contained in the first of series of critiques of the McAleese report planned by Justice For Magdalenes Research (JFMR). Running to some 66 pages, the report discusses issues around death, institutionalisation of former Magdalene women and research on Magdalene graves and duration of stay.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/magdalene-victims-not-buried-in-glasnevin-location-313643.html 

Bishop John Buckley: Magdalene mass grave ‘must be accessible’ to public

The Bishop of Cork and Ross has backed the calls of campaigners to make the vandalised mass grave of Magdalene women at Sunday’s Well accessible to the public.  Bishop John Buckley’s support comes following his call for the exhumation of the remains of Little Nellie — the “unofficial patron saint” of Cork — so people can pray at her grave.
Justice for Magdalenes Research (JFMR) and a number of Magdalene survivors had expressed concern that there was no mention of the mass grave on the site of the former Magdalene Laundry when making his cal

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/bishop-john-buckley-magdalene-mass-grave-must-be-accessible-to-public-349612.html 

Magdalene survivors ‘being punished twice’

Survivors of the Magdalene Laundries are being made to feel they are being punished for a second time due to Government indifference, the Dáil has heard.
Independent TD Maureen O’Sullivan demanded Taoiseach Enda Kenny live up to the promises he made to the women and ensure they get the compensation and respect they deserve. “The effect is that some ladies are being excluded from redress, while others are being offered less than that to which they might be entitled.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/magdalene-survivors-being-punished-twice-270411.html 

VICTORIA WHITE: It’s not just the State that needs to say sorry to Magdalene survivors

NOW we know the State’s share of the blame for the slavery of our women in the Magdalene laundries.
We know more than a quarter of the women were sent there by agents of the State. We know agents of the State, including the President, ate their dinners off tablecloths had washed by Magdalenes and dried their mouths with napkins they had starched.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/viewpoints/columnists/victoria-white/its-not-just-the-state-that-needs-to-say-sorry-to-magdalene-survivors-221865.html 

Second apology over Magdalene laundries urged

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has been told to apologise to Magdalene laundry victims for a second time in just two years, after failing to live up to promises to women who were effectively forced into State “slavery”.
Opposition TDs insisted the step is needed during the second day of debate in the Dáil on what supports will be made available for women kept in the religious institutions without their consent.
Speaking during the second stage of the Redress for Women Resident in Certain Institutions Bill 2014, which outlines payments to those affected if they agree not to sue the State,and certain health services in some cases, politicians across the political divide criticised what is on offer.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/second-apology-over-magdalene-laundries-urged-309754.html

Full text of Enda Kenny's apology to the Magdalene laundries survivors

This is the full text of Enda Kenny's apology to the women who were sent to the Magdalene laundries: "I begin today’s debate by thanking Dr Martin McAleese and his team for their excellent work on this report.

"I thank equally all the women who met with them to assist in its compilation. "I also thank the religious orders who cooperated fully with Dr. McAleese. Together, they have helped provide Ireland with a document of truth. 

http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/full-text-of-enda-kennys-apology-to-the-magdalene-laundries-survivors-585372.html#! 

Fears over ‘trafficking’ of children to the US

Concerns that up to 1,000 children may have been “trafficked” to the US from the Tuam mother and baby home in “a scandal that dwarfs other, more recent issues with the Church and State” were raised by the HSE in 2012.
The warning is contained in an internal note of a teleconference in October 2012 with then assistant director of Children and Family Service Phil Garland and then head of the Medical Intelligence Unit Davida De La Harpe.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/special-investigation-fears-over-trafficking-of-children-to-the-us-334315.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=click&utm_campaign=recirc

SPECIAL INVESTIGATION: Government already knew of baby deaths

The State has said it was horrified by the revelations about the 796 babies buried at Tuam. However, HSE reports into Tuam and Bessborough mother and baby homes had been prepared for the Government two years previously.
The latest revelations about the Tuam and Bessborough mother and baby homes raise a number of serious questions as to why a State inquiry into the issue was not launched three years ago. Material obtained by the Irish Examiner shows that the HSE examined both Tuam and Bessborough as part of the Magdalene laundries inquiry in 2012.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/special-investigation-government-already-knew-of-baby-deaths-334260.html 

UN seeks Vatican probe of Magdalene laundries abuse

The UN has called on the Vatican to investigate the Magdalene laundries so those responsible for the abuse suffered in the institutions can be prosecuted.
In a scathing section of its report on the Vatican’s response to abuse, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child said the Church has not taken the necessary steps and measures to “ensure justice for girls arbitrarily placed by their families, State institutions and churches in the Magdalene laundries”. 

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/un-seeks-vatican-probe-of-magdalene-laundries-abuse-257812.html

Site by laundry grave sold for €61.8m

LAND surrounding a former mass grave at the largest Magdalene Laundry was quietly sold by the order of nuns who ran it for €61.8 million during the boom.
The revelation emerged as representatives of the women imprisoned in the laundries met with Justice Minister Alan Shatter. They discussed the new inquiry and their case for an apology, compensation and a pension for the women involved.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/politics/site-by-laundry-grave-sold-for-618m-159979.html 

Dr Martin McAleese’s reputation ‘damaged by BBC’

The Department of Justice accused the BBC of damaging the reputation of Martin McAleese in an 11-page complaint about its “seriously flawed” documentary on the Magdalene laundries broadcast last summer.
The complaint, by assistant secretary, Jimmy Martin, and partially released under FoI, related to the Hidden Bodies, Hidden Secrets programme broadcast by the BBC in September last year.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/dr-martin-mcaleeses-reputation-damaged-by-bbc-350642.html 

Evidence State sent girls as young as 14 to Magdalene laundries

Close to 40 new cases have been uncovered of women as young as 14 years old having been committed to Magdalene laundries by the State.
As the Justice for Magdalenes (JFM) group awaits the final report by the inter-departmental group set up to “clarify” any state involvement, it has provided concrete examples of 38 cases of women, some as young as 14, sent to Magdalene laundries by courts, often for years at a time, between 1926 and 1983.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/icrime/evidence-state-sent-girls-as-young-as-14-to-magdalene-laundries-193091.html 

Half of Magdalene laundry women in 1950s and 1960s never left again’

Half of the women at one Magdalene laundry in the 1950s and 1960s never left the institution again but died years later behind the convent walls, according to research which strongly contradicts the Martin McAleese report.
A founding member of Justice for Magdalenes (JFM) and the Adoptions Rights Alliance, Claire McGettrick, is due to speak at the Mother Jones Festival in Cork next week where she will discuss her concerns about the narrative adopted in the McAleese study into state involvement in the laundries. 

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/half-of-magdalene-laundry-women-in-1950s-and-1960s-never-left-again-276674.html

Magdalene Laundries: Truth hidden behind a wall of silence

Last year, thanks to the tireless work of Catherine Corless, the world was made aware of the 796 babies that lay forgotten in Tuam. Those of us who have campaigned on these issues were on the one hand relieved that the world was finally taking notice, but on the other, we thought: ‘they don’t know the half of it’.
In the case of deaths in the Magdalene Laundries, the Inter-Departmental Committee on the laundries (IDC) made sure we only knew the half of it. The McAleese Report acknowledges just over half of the 1,663 women (that we are aware of) who died in these institutions.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/viewpoints/analysis/magdalene-laundries-truth-hidden-behind-a-wall-of-silence-306355.html 

Over half of victims were told not to tell of sex abuse

A review of children’s files at one of the country’s main sexual abuse assessment units shows that in more than half of all cases, the children had been told not to tell of the abuse.
The research also highlighted some other themes linked to the abuse, with the review showing parental domestic abuse was a factor in 35% of cases, that the alleged perpetrator of the abuse was aged under 20 in 41% of cases, and that the abuse began for children aged between five and 12 in more than half of all cases reviewed. In more than 17% of cases, the abuse began when the child was aged four or under.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/over-half-of-victims-were-told-not-to-tell-of-sex-abuse-405972.html 

Residents of 27 County Homes unable to give evidence to Mother and Baby Homes Commission

The Commission has been tasked with examining the treatment of unmarried mothers and their babies between 1922 and 1998 in 14 Mother and Baby Homes, as well as “a representative sample of County Homes”.
The Commission has now settled on four County Homes for this sample — St Kevin’s Institution (Dublin Union), Stranorlar County Home, Co Donegal (St Joseph’s), Cork City County Home (St Finbarr’s) and Thomastown County Home, Co Kilkenny (St Columba’s).

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/residents-of-27-county-homes-unable-to-give-evidence-to-mother-and-baby-homes-commission-405763.html 

St Patrick’s finally hands over 13,500 adoption files to Tusla

The agency held approximately 13,500 adoption files — one quarter of all adoption files in the country. It closed in 2013, with the transfer expected to take between 12 to 18 months.
The Irish Examiner understands that issues around indemnity against any legal action taken by people seeking their records was a significant factor in the transfer delay. Tusla declined to confirm it had been indemnified in respect of the records but it had “obtained the appropriate protection in respect of known potential issues”.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/st-patricks-finally-hands-over-13500-adoption-files-to-tusla-406038.html 

Legal aid project for Mother and Baby Homes witnesses

Justice for Magdalenes Research and Adoption Rights Alliance have launched a pro-bono legal initiative to assist witnesses drafting statements to the state commission of inquiry.
The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes will not provide any legal advice to affected individuals who wish to submit a witness statement to the body.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/legal-aid-project-for-mother-and-baby-homes-witnesses-405168.html 

Mass grave ‘filled to the brim with tiny bones and skulls’ shows how the catholic church nuns cherish children

CHERISH ALL THE children equally” is a defining Irish shibboleth, enshrined in the Proclamation of Independence. It is one of our highest aspirations and, like most of the things we Irish hold dearest, it is build on a solid foundation of utter hypocrisy.
Cherish all the children? By all available evidence, we Irish don’t even like children.

http://www.thejournal.ie/readme/mass-grave-galway-tuam-1494001-May2014/ 

Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry: Survivors speak out

The biggest public inquiry into child abuse ever held in the UK is due to begin its first public hearings in Northern Ireland later. Some of those who suffered physical, sexual, and emotional abuse tell BBC News NI what they hope the inquiry will achieve.
The sexual abuse as a child, to me it became normal, it was going to happen. And I couldn't stop it. And then being an adult now, nobody realises that it hurts me much much more than it hurt me when I was a child.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-25709562 

New commission set up to investigate allegations of abuse at ‘mother and baby’ homes

Women and children who may have suffered abuse in care homes are being sought as part of a new investigation. The investigation centres on four ‘mother and baby homes’ in the Republic, including one in Donegal.
The homes are Stranorlar County Home in Donegal, St Kevin’s Institution in Dublin, Cork City County Home and Thomastown County Home in Kilkenny.

http://www.donegalnow.com/news/new-commission-set-up-to-investigate-allegations-of-abuse-at-mother-and-baby-homes/97500

Parliamentary Questions: Appointments to State Boards

13th January, 2016 Question from Colm Keaveney TD
524. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the names of the persons he has nominated to serve in positions carrying remuneration, other than out-of-pocket expenses, on commissions, industrial, assurance, semi-State or other similar concerns; the amounts received annually in respect of each appointment; the name of the concern to which the appointment was made during the years 2011 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

http://clannproject.org/2016/06/12/parliamentary-questions-appointments-to-state-boards/ 

Parliamentary Questions: Departmental Advertising Expenditure

13th January 2016, Question asked by Aengus Ó Snodaigh, TD
527. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the annual cost to his Department of advertisements placed on its behalf in newspapers, magazines, television and radio, and social media.
Response from James Reilly, then Minister for Children
The Department of Children and Youth Affairs website is the primary resource in providing information for use by the public and an essential communications tool for my Department.

http://clannproject.org/2016/06/12/parliamentary-questions-departmental-advertising-expenditure/ 

Parliamentary Questions: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries

3rd November 2015, Question asked by Robert Dowds, TD
628. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs his views on a submission (details supplied) regarding the mother and baby homes commission of investigation; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Response from James Reilly, then Minister for Children
The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and certain related matters was established by Government Order on 17 February 2015 (S.I. No 57 of 2015).

http://clannproject.org/2016/06/13/parliamentary-questions-mother-and-baby-homes-inquiries-2/ 

Parliamentary Questions: Public Inquiries

227. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of tribunals of inquiry, commissions of inquiry or investigations for which he or his Department have been responsible by name; by terms of reference; by cost, including the cost to date where an inquiry has not been concluded; by date including the projected date of conclusion where an inquiry has not been concluded from 1991 to date, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

http://clannproject.org/2016/06/12/parliamentary-questions-public-inquiries/ 

Launch of major project to assist with Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation

Justice for Magdalenes Research (JFMR) and Adoption Rights Alliance (ARA) are delighted to announce the launch of a major project which will offer support to those who wish to make a statement to the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and Certain Related Matters.

The project will provide individuals with free witness statement drafting assistance and it has been endorsed by Philomena Lee and her daughter Jane Libberton. It will be known as Clann: Ireland’s Unmarried Mothers and their Children: Gathering the Data (Clann) and it will be delivered in association with global law firm Hogan Lovells. 

http://clannproject.org/2016/06/14/launch-of-major-project-to-assist-with-mother-and-baby-homes-commission-of-investigation/

New project helps mother and baby home residents make witness statements

Women who lived in mother and baby homes in Ireland will now be able to avail of free legal assistance to make a witness statement.
Justice for Magdalene Research (JFMR) and Adoption Rights Alliance (ARA) have launched the new plan known as “Clann”.  The project will provide free legal assistance to allow individuals in the homes to draft witness statements.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/new-project-helps-mother-and-baby-home-residents-make-witness-statements-34804110.html 

Help for mother and baby home residents announced

Women who lived in mother and baby homes across Ireland can now avail of free legal assistance to make a witness statement.
The project, which will be known as Clann, has been set up by Justice for Magdalenes Research and the Adoption Rights Alliance. They say the initiative will ensure the commission conducts the most comprehensive investigation possible.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2016/0615/795684-new-scheme-for-mother-and-baby-home-residents/ 

How long more must adopted people have to wait?

As the law stands, an adopted person has no way of accessing their medical history. They have no way of finding out if there’s a history of heart disease in the family. Or cancer or any number of hereditary diseases, writes Clodagh Finn.
It is a cruel thing to carry a question mark at the centre of your being for most of a lifetime, as adopted people in Ireland often do. I know that because, as one of those people, I knew next to nothing about how I came into the world until I was 26 years old.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/viewpoints/analysis/how-long-more-must-adopted-people-have-to-wait-404307.html 

Britain’s Child Migrants Forum

The story of Britain's child migrants was largely hidden until the late 1980s when Nottingham social worker, Margaret Humphreys, formed the child migrants trust to help reunite families and raise awareness of the schemes. The story came to the attention of the media and general public with the release of the book and TV documentary, Lost Children of the Empire in 1989 and the ABC BBC mini-series, The Leaving of Liverpool in 1992.
After years of lobbying by former child migrants and their families, the issue also became part of the political agenda. Government inquiries held in the UK in 1998 and Australia in 2001 condemned the schemes as fundamentally flawed. Submissions and evidence given at the inquiries revealed horrific stories of abuse, neglect and deception. In 2009, then Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, made an apology to former child migrants and Forgotten Australians who suffered in institutional care. Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, apologised in 2010.

https://museumvictoria.com.au/immigrationmuseum/discoverycentre/stolen-childhoods/britains-child-migrants-forum/ 

Children’s mass grave in Sydney

Below are John Murray’s photographs taken of a re-interment ceremony held on 1 May 2000. Over 100 children’s bodies were re-interred at the site of the former Randwick Asylum for Destitute Children. The bodies were discovered during the rebuild of the psychiatric ward at Sydney Children’s Hospital. An archaeological survey was able to identify 40 of the bodies.
Randwick Asylum for Destitute Children was opened in 1852. The 1873 royal commission on public charities recommended that large institutions for children be closed down and that children be boarded out. At the time of the commission, the Randwick Asylum housed between 700 and 800 children. However, the Asylum did not begin boarding out children until 1883 and did not close until 1915.

http://nma.gov.au/blogs/inside/2010/11/01/mass-grave/ 

Nazareth House, Wynnum: (Or: Nun on the Run)

The Poor Sisters of Nazareth ran many Orphanages around the world, all called Nazareth House. Their crimes at their Wynnum facility, at the Brisbane suburb of Wynnum, were reported in the late 1980s by a very brave woman, “Bobby”. [Her last name is not given because of some vicious attacks on her character – see, for example, the ad2000.com ref. below].
There were the usual terrible incidents of all forms of abuse. There were all of the usual attempts to silence victims, including legal threats. There were the usual apologies to victims for having “unhappy memories” of Nazareth House. There were the usual pathetic payments to victims. There were, however, some new twists in the usual attempts to avoid culpability.

https://lewisblayse.net/2013/05/29/nazareth-house-wynnum-or-nun-on-the-run/ 

Allegations of extreme cruelty and sexual abuse were made in 1998 about Nazareth Houses

Allegations of extreme cruelty and sexual abuse were made in 1998 about Nazareth Houses in Tyne, Sunderland, Plymouth, and Manchester in England, Swansea in Wales, and Aberdeen, Glasgow, Midlothian and Kilmarnock in Scotland. A report was published on allegations of abuse and brutality at one of the order's homes in Queensland, Australia, over a 90-year period ending in 1976, including 48 children who were part of the British government Child Migrant Programme.
In the Northern Ireland Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry, the largest inquiry of its type in UK legal history into institutional sexual and physical abuse in Northern Ireland institutions that were in charge of children from 1922 to 1995, Module 1 investigates the Sisters of Nazareth Homes in Derry/Londonderry (27 January 2014 to 29 May 2014), Module 2 the Child Migrant Programme, which forcibly sent children from NI institutions to Australia where they were often maltreated and exploited, and Module 4 (started on 5 January 2015) covered Sisters of Nazareth Belfast - Nazareth House and Lodge.

http://faithsharks.com/article/167/sisters-of-nazareth 

Abuse at nazareth House world wide: A Chamber Of Horrors

For half a lifetime "Jean" had said nothing of what had happened to her - the terror and the torment and the agony of her so-called childhood was locked up in her memory. Never forgotten. Just sitting there under the surface. Filed away. On her mind but never spoken. For half a lifetime.
Who would believe her if she spoke? No one, she felt. No one would believe what had happened to her - and to the others. And, anyway, she had to get on with life. There was no point living in the past. It was the same for "Lizzie" - although she had talked about it to a stranger three days ago.

http://snapsurvivorsnetwork.yuku.com/topic/3196#.V1aMcb41eUk

When child cruelty reigned at Nazareth House World Wide

Nazareth House girls put on a brave face for the camera. When child cruelty reigned . Nazareth House was a great grim building, its brick walls rising from the Brisbane suburb of Wynnum North, softened only by a sparse cluster of palms.
Inside, its pious austerity moved one Queensland child-care officer to report: "The design of the building itself is along the lines of a monastery, with cloisters, crucifixes, statues etc in great abundance.

http://snapsurvivorsnetwork.yuku.com/topic/3196#.V1aMcb41eUk

Claims Nuns Tortured Children.

Melody, I am Ann Thompson who the story is about below here. I was taken away from my mother at 2 and a half months old.. to live 25years in catholic church orphanages...  where Iwas raped from 18months old... by three women workers... abused by nuns of the two orders... and raped by the 2nd order of nuns... in the way they would strip me naked... and thrash my parts where they should never had done...  laid across bed... with my hands and feet tied to both ends of the bed... to get the devil... and my mothers sins out of my Soul...               Ann Free Spirit = Ann Thompson

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A 61-year-old woman has gone public with tales of torture at the hands of Catholic nuns.

Ann Thompson lived at Nazareth House in Christchurch from ages 10 to 19 where she says she was repeatedly stripped and beaten by nuns.  The nuns claimed she had the devil in her because she was born out of wedlock, says Thompson.

 

http://rense.com/general28/nuns.htm 

Catholic priests unmasked: 'God doesn't like boys who cry'

March 13, 2013. The world is waiting. Television screens show days-old footage of cardinals in red and white, processing past Vatican guards into the magnificence of the Sistine Chapel for the papal conclave. Every image, from the polished marble floors and gold ceilings to the priceless frescoes on the walls, tells a story of wealth, pageantry and power. Outside, in St Peter's Square, the crowds are cheering for a man whose name they do not yet know.
But there is another soundtrack. The day before, Pat McEwan, a 62-year-old from Scotland, had described to me how he was raped at the age of eight by a priest. His voice drowns out crowds and choirs. "I ran home shaking like a dog. I had wee short trousers on and the shite was running down my leg. My mum and my auntie had to wipe me down."

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/apr/07/catholic-priests-unmasked-god-boys 

Nuns performed acts of sadism on children, Australian inquiry finds

Sadistic nuns at a notorious Australian orphanage in Queensland dished out abuse in a toxic environment that festered due in part to inadequate government scrutiny, supervision and training, a royal commission has found.
The child sex abuse royal commission last year examined cruel treatment of 13 former residents of St Joseph's Orphanage, which was operated by the Sisters of Mercy between 1940 and 1975. The men and women – now aged from their 50s to 80s – recalled abuse at Neerkol, ranging from public floggings and being walked on in high heels to being made to drape urine-soaked sheets over their heads.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/79205204/Nuns-performed-acts-of-sadism-on-children-Australian-inquiry-finds 

Sex Abuse by Nuns Alleged at Md. Protest Silver Spring Gathering Calls Attention to Problem

Four women and a man who say they are victims of child sexual abuse by Roman Catholic nuns held a news conference yesterday outside the Silver Spring headquarters of an organization of nuns to spotlight what they contend is an unrecognized problem.
"I'm here today because I'm concerned that in the midst of the sex abuse scandal about priests . . . people are not paying attention to the fact that people were sexually abused by nuns and sisters," said Mary Guentner, 46, a social worker from near Milwaukee who said she was sexually abused by a nun for four years, beginning in her senior year of high school.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47415-2004Jul13.html 

Liverpool actor Paul Barber reveals abuse he suffered at the hands of nuns, brutal foster mum and a paedophile

Reporter Alun Palmer reveals the horrific sexual abuse suffered by Liverpudlian actor Paul Barber when he was sent to a local convent.
Liverpool actor today Paul Barber today spoke of the abuse he suffered at the hands of evil nuns, a paedophile and a brutal foster mum. Barber is currently wowing audiences as Gerry in the film adaptation of One Night in Istanbul.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-actor-paul-barber-reveals-7821755 

Nun accused of abuse has risen from the dead New Zealand

A nun accused last year of child abuse in Australia has apparently risen from the dead and is living in Christchurch.  Sister Bernard Mary was a central figure in a Queensland court case last year alleging abuse at a Brisbane orphanage in the 1950s and 1960s.
Trustees for her order, the Sisters of Nazareth, claimed in documents filed in the Queensland Supreme Court last July that she was dead.  But the Catholic Church said Sister Bernard, in her 60s, lived in Christchurch, where she leads the New Zealand order. 

http://www.peterellis.org.nz/church/2002/2002-0907_DominionPost_NunAccused.htm 

Top nun speaks out in denial New Zealand and Australia

One of the Catholic Church's most experienced nuns is publicly denying claims of abuse from women in New Zealand and Australia.  At least five New Zealand women are threatening court action against the Sisters of Nazareth order over claims of abuse at a Christchurch orphanage.
Sister Mary Bernard, 69, has spoken publicly for the first time to deny that she and other nuns abused children in their care in the 1950s and 60s.  Bernard, who joined the order 47 years ago, says while discipline was stricter then the children were never whipped or beaten.

http://www.peterellis.org.nz/church/2002/2002-0914_OneNews_TopNun.htm

Report on Tuam Mother and Baby Home expected this summer

An interim report into the Mother and Baby Homes, including the former facility in Tuam, is expected to be completed this August.
The report is being compiled by the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation and will be issued to the government later in the summer. The commission was set up to investigate 14 Mother and Baby Homes around the country, including the one in Tuam, which was open from 1925 to 1961.

http://www.galwayindependent.com/news/topics/articles/2016/06/01/4120787-report-on-tuam-mother-and-baby-home-expected-this-summer/