n 1955 the Secretary of the Department of Education, TR O Raifeartaigh, visited Daingean Reformatory School in Co Offaly and reported that: "the cows are better fed than the boys".
Students of the history of the Catholic Church in Ireland are not likely to be shocked at his statement. The animals were worth money, the children were not. The same is true of babies - such as myself - who were born in Mother and Baby Homes.
We were worthless in the early years of independence from 1922 until 1945 - until suddenly we were worth more alive than dead.
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/banished-babies-and-the-price-of-life-in-irelands-mother-and-baby-homes-36741464.html
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/banished-babies-and-the-price-of-life-in-irelands-mother-and-baby-homes-36741464.html
