Termonbacca, Nazareth House and St. Mary’s laundry records available to mother and baby homes programme

The Truth Recovery Independent Panel published its Interim Report on Mother and Baby Institutions, Magdalene Laundries and Workhouses on Wednesday detailing the progress of its work on testimony gathering, locating and preservation of records and preparing guidance to help victims-survivors access information held on them.

The report confirms the Good Shepherd Sisters have agreed to release their records relating to its former St. Mary’s Home on the Dungiven Road.

The Sisters of Nazareth will supply information on the former Nazareth House baby home in Fahan, Nazareth House children’s home in Bishop Street and St. Joseph’s children’s home at Termonbacca.

The Independent Panel was set up as part of the Truth Recovery Programme seeking truth, acknowledgement and accountability around Mother and Baby Homes, Magdalene Laundries and Workhouses, in advance of a statutory Public Inquiry.

The 10-person panel includes practitioners from areas of expertise including trauma informed practice; human rights law and genealogy as well as three Victims-Survivors Representatives to ensure a victim-survivor centred approach.

Paul McClarey is one of the Victim-Survivors Representatives.

The report outlines how Mr. McClarey’s mother was an eighteen year-old girl from Derry who was sent to the Marianville Mother and Baby Institution run by the Good Shepherd Sisters in Belfast when she was five months pregnant.

“After giving birth, she was sent directly to the St Mary’s home, which was next door to Marianville, where she worked in the laundry without pay. She remained in the Magdalene Laundry for a further 3 months.

"Paul was taken away from his mother at 18 days old and was in the care system for 13 months before being boarded out with a view for adoption.

“Paul was finally adopted when he was 6.5 years old. As a young man in his twenties, he traced his mother only to discover she had tragically passed away some 10 years earlier, aged 29,” the interim report notes.

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Mr. McClarey’s late mother would been 40 the day he went looking for her.

"Paul’s sense of abandonment has never left him, and he still struggles with the trauma of forced separation from his birth mother. In recent years he has become a campaigner and advocate for other affected individuals.

"He continues, through peer support networks, to develop relationships with other victim-survivors, as they support each other on a difficult journey,” the report adds.

The Independent Panel has so far prioritised hearing from registered participants aged 70+ or with a health issue.

Those who have already given their testimony have given positive feedback, commenting that the professional manner of the team had made it easy to tell their lived experience, and how much it meant for them to be listened to.

In the next phase of testimony collection over the coming months, the Independent Panel will approach the remainder of those who have already declared an interest in giving testimony.

A wider appeal for people to come forward will begin in the summer, with those testimonies being collected from October.

On identifying and locating records relating to the Mother and Baby Institutions, Magdalene Laundries and Workhouses, the Independent Panel has been working closely with the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI).

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A significant number of institutions have agreed to have their records digitised and made available to the Independent Panel for their investigation and as of April 2024, over 3,000 items have been received by PRONI. This includes 178 volumes/registers; 43 annual reports/accounts; 350 case files and 2,550 index card case notes.

The Independent Panel would encourage the number of remaining institutions who have not yet shared their records to do so, as this process is not only important to their work, but also to that of the wider Truth Recovery Programme to ensure the Public Inquiry and/or the Redress Service will have access to digital copies of the records.

In the next 12 months, the Independent Panel will be examining records more closely for their Final Report, which is expected to be published in 2025 and will include recommendations for the upcoming Public Inquiry.

The Independent Panel looks forward to working with the Chair of the Public Inquiry as soon as they are appointed to ensure a smooth transition between its work and that of the Public Inquiry.

Professor Leanne McCormick and Professor Sean O’Connell, Truth Recovery Independent Panel Co-Chairs commented on the publication of the Interim Report: “Our report outlines our trauma-informed testimony collection process, which ensures that individuals who chose to share their experiences with us, can do so in a safe, respectful and supportive environment.

"We are indebted to the victims-survivors who helped us to shape this and want to thank those who have come forward to share their testimony with us so far. We hope they have found this to be a positive experience.

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“This work is laying strong foundations for the Public Inquiry, enabling it to carry out its work more effectively and we look forward to engaging with the Inquiry.”

“We know that those seeking the truth about themselves have faced significant challenges and this report outlines our dedicated efforts to support victims-survivors and their families in that journey by making it easier to access their records.”

The Truth Recovery Programme was established by the NI Executive following close collaboration between the Truth Recovery Design Panel and victims-survivors of Mother and Baby Institutions, Magdalene Laundries and Workhouses.

The Integrated Truth Investigation comprises two phases: a non-statutory Independent Panel with complementary professional expertise and victims-survivors’ representatives which allows for a flexible non-adversarial process of investigation using diverse methods of evidence gathering, research and public engagement, and which will gather testimonies and provide a full report, to run in advance of, and in parallel with a full Statutory Public Inquiry.

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