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I Survived a Catholic Asylum | DEEP

People Are Deep

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This week we spoke to Maureen Sullivan, a survivor of child abuse at Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries, also known as Magdalene asylums, that housed women and girls deemed to have "fallen from grace". She shared her story of hardship, survival, and the fight for justice in one of Irish history’s darkest chapters.

00:00 - Early childhood & abuse
03:13 - Magdalene Laundries and What Life There Was Like
09:33 - On Being Trafficked
11:52 - Leaving Magdalene Laundries & Uncovering Abuse
15:57 - Living with the trauma
17:06 - Speaking Out
19:03 - Bringing Nuns to Justice
24:00 - Reflection

Thanks to Maureen for taking part!

Maureen wanted to express gratitude to the Christine Buckley Centre for Education and Support in Dublin that helped her greatly, you can find about their work and support them here - https://www.christineb.ie/
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20 Comments

@zarajones5428 1 year ago (edited)

The fact that this brave lady is only 73 is shocking. I forget how recently this all took place

@beccaf262 1 year ago

Wishing a terrible day to that lady that said “let the past be the past”! It’s easy to say that when your past isn’t haunted by the transgressions of adults

@precious_toebeans 1 year ago

The fact that she speaks at all after what she went through is immensely inspiring

@marymcmahon2128 1 year ago

The nuns should be in prison for what they did. By no means should they get away with what they did done .😢

@kaitiekai 1 year ago

EXACTLY why I never remarried because of my 4 little boys. Creepy guys out there.

@Mychocolateboxoflife 1 year ago

My mum was sent to the convent at 10 and was in the Magdalene launderies until she was 18 - the stories she told me about her life at that time - the nuns were wicked!

@Harveybeau 1 year ago

As an Irish person living in Ireland, somewhat younger than Maureen, I can confirm everything Maureen is saying is 💯 the truth. Maureen you are a brave Irish lady and we are so very proud of you. May God bless and continue healing from this evil you endured. ❤

@lornafriend3718 1 year ago

When people say ‘leave the past in the past’, they’re trying to avoid accountability and it’s just a terrible thing to say to someone who has suffered so so much! Truly terrible!!!! This lady is incredible and so strong, and I really hope she finds happiness and peace in life. She’s incredibly brave for speaking out and I know that her wise words will help a lot of others who have suffered terrible trauma. ❤

@christinekruger7327 1 year ago

I am a great grandmother and when I was 7 years old I was in a convent in South Africa. I was abused. I was put in the dunces corner nearly every day because I couldn’t spell “together “. Then a child in my class sat next to where I was sitting in the sand and wrote “ to get her “ needless to I never got that wrong. Once wet my bed and there in the middle of winter I had to walk to school with the wet pyjamas around my neck and sit all morning like. There was much more that I have shut off. Thank you for your program 🙏🌻🙏

@Mylegiscaughtinashackle 1 year ago

I don't know if you'll see this, Maureen, but thank you. You're incredibly brave and strong. You have done such good by exposing this. You're giving voices to victims who are still too scared to speak or who can't because they're no longer with us. I hope you can continue to heal and please, never stop sharing your story.

@hugoj1129 1 year ago

It’s mad how recent all of this was. You can still see an advertisement for a Magdalene laundry painted on a wall in Castletroy in Limerick. It’s disgusting that the church never had to publicly apologise for them.

@ElizabethAlemanno-vx8ki 1 year ago

My old Irish grandfather, always said “Beware the pillars of the church”...and he always said “ He was a recovering catholic “.......Makes you think.

@katies8797 1 year ago (edited)

The nun from the deaf and blind school/hospital in dublin tried to tell my mother when I was a baby that I was blind and deaf but my mam knew I wasn't so ignored her calls and letters when she tried to tell my mam she was wrong and force her to bring me in. She reported my mam to social services who thankfully after meeting me believed my mam. Im absolutely not deaf or blind and never needed any sort of hearing aids as a kid or adult. Its been 27-28 years and my mam still remembers her name and how vile she spoke to my mam like she didnt know anything because she was a first time mother

@fl7569 11 months ago

Sinead O'Connor was also sent to one of these institutions as a child. She was later blacklisted by the entertainment industry for calling out the catholic church's child abuse years before anyone else would. More power to all of you brave women.

@lindasanderlin4444 1 year ago

The thing that really gets to me is that people are still so evil and money is still more important than people to the greedy. 😢

@thornsandrosies 1 year ago

My grandmother was born and tormented in the Good Shepard Waterford, only “escaping” when she was 14 to be released to another abuser. The stories she told chilled my cousins and I to the bone. She had a scar on her inner forearm from a hot poker a sister pressed to her flesh repeatedly for dropping a cup. She still had it til her death.
The crimes of the Catholic Church are yet to be answered in this country.

@msidentified4557 1 year ago

My poor mother was sent to a borstal run by nuns in Nottingham when her mum died.. They messed my mum up... She lived her life as an atheist because of what they put her through.. it hurts my heart.❤

@VannahLemons 1 year ago

My mom was born in 1963, she had a bad home life and ran away a lot. She went from foster home to foster home, sometimes my grandma could visit her, other times she couldn't. She noticed one day that my moms shoes didn't fit her feet, so she brought a new pair for her at their next visit, my mom's foster mother confiscated her new shoes when she saw them and made her wear the old ones. She never saw the new shoes again. Its so bizarre to me that anyone would WANT to be so cruel to a child, that kind of thing stays with you. The story has stuck with me. To be denied proper shoes as a small child... it almost solidifies in your brain, my situation is hopeless. No one will save me, no one will come for me, no one will fix this and it will stay like this. You blame yourself, maybe you don't deserve better, maybe things like nice shoes and a comfortable life aren't meant for you. Its damaging to a child, who then has to grow up sorting through all that trauma for the rest of their life.

@misty2montana1 1 year ago

I'm a catholic and am always shocked at how cruel the church could be!

@jacquelinequinlan5070 1 year ago

Maureen they are now having to reap what they sowed. No one thinks the same about the catholic church anymore it shows in the lack of attendences in many churches. Shame on them for letting this abuse happen to the children in their care who should have been protected. I hope you find peace they will never be released from this unless they accept what happened and apologise.