CynA Whitlow

Ms. Watkins English

18th February 2016

The Magdalene Laundries (Asylums)

Several places in Europe are homes to Magdalen laundries. These laundry remains are the
reminders of what could be considered a Rehab for women both young and old during the
Victorian Era and some time beyond. However, this isnt the only reason that people remember
the Magdalen homes. The conspiracies surrounding the Magdalen Laundries/Asylums have been
spread throughout Europe. There are rumours that portray the homes as a hell for young women
and worse than any jail during that time period. Is there any truth behind the rumours, or is it all
just Hollywood interpretation of what was just a rehabilitation center?
The truth behind the Magdalene Laundries has been passed around throughout the years.
The truth behind the walls of the laundries is more than just women working in a Laundromat
and sewing up clothes. These women lived lives that no man or woman would ever want to be a
part of. To top it all off, it all started with young women no older than 25 and no younger than
12. Starting in 1765 the protestant asylum named Magdalen Home became well known around
England and Ireland because it housed fallen women. Fallen women were women who were
prostitutes, pregnant without marriage, rape victims, or were thought to be sexually active in
their community. These women were frowned upon in their societies.
Starting at the age of 12, any ladies could be brought into the laundries; this could be by
choice, by the church, or by family. These ladies would be kept for as long as they were thought
to need to be kept, or until they were taken by a family member (which rarely happened). Often
their family members would be told that they had moved away and changed their names, this
way they could not be found. Marina Gambold, a young Irish girl, was taken into the asylum at
the age of 16 by a priest because he considered her to be fallen. She did not leave until she was
19. Elizabeth Coppin, a survivor of the Laundry, gave her account of being sent there. At the age
of 14 she was taken out of school and sent to the closest laundry near her. She states that she was
never told why she had been brought their, but she had been told one thing: It will be a very
long time before you get out. Elizabeth claimed that she was forced to work long days with no
pay, made to sleep in a cell with bars over the window and a bucket for a toilet, and punished by
having [her] beautiful hair shaved off after trying to escape.
The treatment the women were subject to inside the laundry had been portrayed by media
as brutal. It had been said that their heads were shaved and that they were beaten. The media also
claimed that these women were hit in the face with canes and tied up by their hands while being
whipped. However, accounts from the women said much different. A woman from the asylum
stated: I was there for one year and I was never abused. I had my own name and my own
clothes. The laundry was tolerable, though we did have much verbal abuse. Though there was
not physical abuse, mental (psychological) abuse was very common in the homes. The women

CynA Whitlow
Ms. Watkins English
18th February 2016

were degraded in front of their peers to make them feel low. The nuns would state your private
business in front of the other women, make you kiss the floor, or claim that you had Satan living
inside of you.
Elizabeth, a survivor, stated: We were never given education, this way they could use
our lack of knowledge against us. Verbal abuse was quite normal. My hair was shaved off and I
was given the name Edna. This was so they could tell us how we were nothing and how we
didnt even know who we really are.
The women of the asylum never truly knew when they would be allowed to leave the
place. They were not allowed much communication with the outside world. Some of the women
in the home had become very aged, making other women feel that Magdalene Home would be
their last resting place. The women would be locked in every single night with no way to escape.
An account from a survivor states: There was never a reason given for anything, we never
thought wed see the outside of the world again.While you were in Ireland they knew exactly
what you were doing. You had to leave Ireland to escape them.
Kathleen English, a survivor, stated: They gave to the world a false sense of what was
being done. So much so that they even sent out school reports saying how well I did in class and
how great I was at cooking, housewifery and other such subjects. I never attended a class. I never
even met the mother superior. I never saw a clock, book or newspapers when I was there. The
women were deprived of all outside sources; some didnt even know what year it was. The
women were never really able to leave, they were only sent to other state-run institutions.
There have been theories about the happenings inside the Magdalen Homes. The rumors
surrounding the nuns and the women that resided there were and still are horrible to the ears. The
truth, as always, is not as hard to find as society might believe. The conspiracies surrounding the
Magdalen Laundries/Asylums have been spread throughout Europe. There are rumours that
portray the homes as a hell for young women and worse than any jail during that time period. Is
there any truth behind the rumours, or is it all just Hollywood interpretation of what was just a
rehabilitation center?
The Laundries were more than just homes for wayward women. These laundries and
asylums were the death beds of hundreds of unknown women. Now that you have read these
accounts of what has went on in Europe, tell me, what do you believe?

CynA Whitlow
Ms. Watkins English
18th February 2016
Work Cited

Justice.ie. Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee to establish the facts of state involvement with
the Magdalene Laundries. Justice.ie. Web. 10 February 2016.

BBC News Report. Magdalene Laundries Survivor Stories. BBC. 5 February, 2013. Web. 11 February
2016

Violet Feng. The Magdalene Laundry. CBSNEWS. 8 August 2003. Web. 11 February 2016