Tag Archives: Kilrush mother and baby home

A MEMORIAL sculpture in honour of the children who died in the Clare County Nursery was unveiled this week at Old Shanakyle Graveyard. Speaking at the unveiling local authority CEO Pat Dowling said, “Today is just another step in this council’s effort to accept responsibility for the unconscionable treatment of women and children in this facility, which was managed and funded by Clare County Council.” The event was attended by Ms Breda Murphy of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home Alliance who said after the event, “Today was a very special day, honouring and remembering the lost lives of those who were forgotten for decades. I was honoured to attend and witness the outpouring of love and respect for both the mothers and children of the Kilrush Nursery.” Following a 12-month research and geophysical survey project, the Burial Grounds Unit of Clare County Council identified a large plot at the graveyard which contains a significant number of children’s burials. In …

A MEMORIAL inscribed with the message ‘Inár gCuimhne go deo/Always Remember’ marking the County Clare Nursery (Mother and Baby Home) has been unveiled in Kilrush. The memorial to the women who gave birth in the Kilrush-based County Nursery, the children who spent their lives there, and the infants who died there, was unveiled at Toler Street in the west Clare town by outgoing Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, Councillor Mary Howard, in the presence of Council Chief Executive, Pat Dowling. Following publication of the Final Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes in January of this year, Clare County Council apologised for its role in the County Nursery, which was owned and financed by Clare County Council during its decade of operation, 1922-1932. Clare County Council acknowledged, “with profound regret”, its role in the failure to meet the care needs of women and children resident in the County Nursery. As part of addressing its role in …

A WOMAN who married a West Clare farmer, in response to a News of the World advertisement, took shelter in the County Nursery in Kilrush after she was kicked out of the family home, it has been revealed. This, according to Kilrush and District Historical Society, gives credence to the belief that the County Nursery, which is what the mother and baby home was known as, may have doubled as a refuge for women who were victims of domestic violence in the 1920s. Kilrush and District Historical Society has unearthed details from a court case which suggests this could have been the case. At a Kilrush District Court sitting in 1928, it was stated that a woman who sued her husband for a separation allowance had married him in response to an advertisement in the News of the World. Historical society PRO, Paddy Waldron told The Clare Champion that the court sitting he refers to, details of which were published …