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The Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, also known as Magdalene asylums, were institutions, generally run by Roman Catholics, that operated from the 18th to the late 20th centuries. They were run ostensibly to house "fallen women". An estimated 30,000 women were confined in these institutions in Ireland. In 1993, a mass grave containing 155 corpses was uncovered in the convent grounds of one of the laundries.〔 This led to media revelations about the operations of the secretive institutions. A formal state apology was issued in 2013, and a £50 million compensation scheme for survivors was set up, to which the Catholic Church has refused to contribute.〔 ==History== The Dublin Magdalen Asylum in Lower Leeson Street was the first such institution in Ireland. Founded in 1765 by Lady Arabella Denny, Ireland's Magdalen asylums, or laundries, survived the longest. The last Magdalen asylum didn't close until 1996. Ireland's Magdalen laundries were quietly supported by the state, and operated by religious communities for more than two hundred years. There isn't anything exclusively "Irish" or "Catholic" about these institutions, but James Smith asserts that the "Irish variety took on a distinct character".〔Smith xiv〕 Inmates were required to work, primarily in laundries, since the facilities were self-supporting. Andrea Parrot and Nina Cummings wrote that "The cost of violence, oppression and brutalization of women is enormous" and in their struggle to survive, the inmates suffered not only physically, but spiritually and emotionally.〔Parrot, Cummings 50〕 As time went on the asylums became increasingly prison-like. Supervising sisters were instructed to encourage the women into penance, rather than merely berating them and blocking their escape attempts. In Belfast the Church of Ireland-run Ulster Magdalene Asylum was founded in 1839 on Donegall Pass. Similar institutions were run by Catholics on Ormeau Road and by Presbyterians on Whitehall Parade.〔(Government, politics and institutions in Belfast in the early twentieth century ) - National Archives of Ireland〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Magdalene laundries in Ireland」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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