Mary Norris (''née'' Cronin born 1932) was a young woman in Ireland who was sent to a

Magdalene asylum Magdalene asylums, also known as Magdalene laundries, were initially Protestant but later mostly Roman Catholic institutions that operated from the 18th to the late 20th centuries, ostensibly to house "fallen women". The term referred to femal ...

, where her name was changed and she was imprisoned until removed by an aunt. Norris spent two years performing hard labor in the Good Shepherd Convent, a Magdalene asylum. Norris later came forward and recounted her experiences of abuse in the asylum and also the St Joseph's Orphanage in

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Cast ...

Biography

Norris was the eldest of eight children, was born in 1932 in

Sneem Sneem () is a village situated on the Iveragh Peninsula (part of the Ring of Kerry), in County Kerry, in the southwest of Ireland. It lies on the estuary of the River Sneem. National route N70 runs through the town. While the 2016 census recor ...

, South Kerry,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. She was sent to a

Magdalene laundry Magdalene asylums, also known as Magdalene laundries, were initially Protestant but later mostly Roman Catholic institutions that operated from the 18th to the late 20th centuries, ostensibly to house " fallen women". The term referred to fema ...

or asylum run by the Good Shepherd Order in Cork,

, in 1949 at the age of 16. She spent two years there. The laundry closed down in 1994. Norris was removed from her mother at the age of twelve. Norris's father died when she was twelve and her mother then pursued a relationship with a local farmer, which caught the attention of the parish priest. The priest wanted Norris's mother to marry the farmer or end the relationship, "and when neither happened with the alacrity he expected, the children were seized and made wards of the courts." The children were taken to a judge and made wards of court. They were sent to different places run by different

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

institutions. Norris found herself at St Joseph's Orphanage in Killarney. At the age of sixteen, Norris was sent to work as a maid, but was returned to the orphanage after she went to a cinema without permission. She was then sent to a laundry in Cork. She reports that the way she was treated at the laundry amounted to

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, and that the girls and women were forced to work ten hours a day every day except Sunday. She reports also that her name was changed to Myra, as the nuns felt she did not deserve to share her name with the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

, and that she was told falsely that her family had abandoned her. She was given the number 30 as an identifier. When Mary had been in the Magdalene laundry for two years, a concerned aunt in America tracked her down, and removed her from the laundry. (Later Mary petitioned the sisters of the Good Shepherd in Cork to obtain a list of the names of the Magdalenes who had been buried in unmarked graves behind the laundry.) She was reunited with her mother, brothers, and sisters. Eventually she moved to London with her mother. After her mother's death in 1989, Mary returned to Ireland. Her brothers had been with the Christian Brothers in Tralee—an order which has also, in some cases, been found guilty of abuse. They were both alcoholics at the time of their deaths. One died as a result of a fire; the other as a result of murder. Her sisters emigrated, and Norris is the sole member of her immediate family to remain in Ireland. She discusses her experience as an "orphan" in an interview published by the '' Irish Independent'' in January 1999. Mary has been married twice and had one daughter also named Mary Patricia Cronin at birth, she was born in London and placed for adoption at infant stage of 6 weeks. However, Mary and her daughter, later known as Susan Ann Davis reunited in 1984 when Susan was living in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. Susan died on 15th July, 2016. Mary died on 31st May 2017

Biography

References

Further reading