Do penance or perish : Magdalen asylums in Ireland
(Book)

Originally published: Piltown, Co. Kilkenny : Congrave Press, 2001.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 245-252) and index.

"Do Penance or Perish tells the fascinating story of Ireland's Good Shepherd Magdalen Asylums. First brought to widespread public attention by the 2002 film The Magdalen Sisters, the asylums were homes that were founded in the mid-nineteenth century for the detention of prostitutes undergoing reform. The inmates of these asylums were discouraged - and many forcibly prevented - from leaving and sometimes were detained for life. Put to work without pay in adjoining laundries, these women were subject to penance, harsh discipline, enforced silence, and prayer. Their hair was cropped, and they were made to wear drab and shapeless clothing. Their children were taken away and they were forbidden to discuss their lives prior to their entry into the asylums. As the numbers of prostitutes began to dwinille, the church looked elsewhere for this free labor, targeting other "fallen" women such as unwed mothers and wayward or abused girls. Some were incarcerated simply for being "too beautiful," and therefore in danger of sin. Others were "simple minded." Most of them were brought to the asylums by their families or priests. Unbehevably, women were still being admitted to these institutions in the 1980s, and the last of these asylums was closed only in 1996."--BOOK JACKET.