No. This is a complete falsehood. Women had to apply for admission to mother and baby homes—none were forcibly placed there by the authorities. As part of a successful application, women were required to commit to staying for one to two years to help rear their child. Breast milk was only available through wet nurses, who were scarce. Even today, despite ‘breast is best’ campaigns, many infants die from the world’s deadliest infant killer—bottle-feeding. Mothers were expected to give their babies the best possible start in life, though the majority did not remain in the homes for the full term as promised.
In recent years, many homes have been mischaracterized to fuel conspiracy theories. Some were actually refuges for women and children, and not all children residing there were illegitimate, nor were all mothers unmarried. In Tuam, for instance, the institution was known as ‘The Children’s Home,’ officially St. Mary’s Children’s Home. Records show that in some cases, courts directed mothers and their children in crisis to stay temporarily at these refuges. Some commentators have exaggerated this practice into claims of incarceration, yet such claims are easily debunked. Even today, courts issue similar protective orders for vulnerable individuals. These measures were neither unusual nor a form of informal imprisonment.
