On January 12th, 2021 The Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation, established in 2015 by the Irish government to investigate mother and baby homes, published its report. Eighteen homes were investigated, even though some 182 institutions, individuals and agencies were involved in adoption, informal ‘adoption’ and other forced family separation. Just 549 people – 304 mothers and 229 children – gave testimony to the commission’s confidential committee. Even with those very limited numbers, it found that between 1922 and 1998, some 56,000 women and 57,000 children resided in those 18 homes, and around 9,000 or roughly 15 per cent of the children died.
Clodagh Finn, an author and journalist, shares her personal story and disusses the Commission and Report with us.