''Sex in a Cold Climate'' is a 1998 Irish

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

detailing the mistreatment of "

fallen women "Fallen woman" is an archaic term which was used to describe a woman who has "lost her innocence", and fallen from the grace of God. In 19th-century Britain especially, the meaning came to be closely associated with the loss or surrender of a ...

" in the Magdalene laundries in Ireland. It was produced and directed by Steve Humphries and narrated by

Dervla Kirwan Dervla Kirwan (born 24 October 1971) is an Irish actress. She has received a number of accolades, including two IFTA Awards for her performances in the film '' Ondine'' (2009) and the RTÉ thriller series '' Smother'' (2021–2023) respective ...

. It was used as a source for the 2002 film, ''

The Magdalene Sisters ''The Magdalene Sisters'' is a 2002 drama film written and directed by Peter Mullan, about three teenage girls who were sent to Magdalene asylums (also known as Magdalene laundries), homes for women who were labelled as " fallen" by their famil ...

''.Smith, James M.
"The Magdalene Sisters: Evidence, Testimony . . . Action?"
''Sings'', Winter 2007 The film was produced by Testimony Films and aired on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

in March 1998.

Film content

The documentary interviews four women, three of whom were incarcerated in

Magdalene asylum Magdalene asylums, also known as Magdalene laundries (named after the Biblical figure Mary Magdalene), were initially Protestant but later mostly Roman Catholic institutions that operated from the 18th to the late 20th centuries, ostensibly to ...

s in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

: Brigid Young is the only one of the four women interviewed who never experienced a

laundry Laundry is the washing of clothing and other textiles, and, more broadly, their drying and ironing as well. Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with this u ...

, but she grew up in an adjoining orphanage in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

. She recalls how a priest masturbated on her dress in

confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of people – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information that ...

, then walked away as if nothing had happened, and how she was too inexperienced to know what had happened. Phyllis Valentine was sent from her orphanage in

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

to an asylum in

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

aged just fifteen because the

nuns A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of Evangelical counsels, poverty, chastity, and obedience in the Enclosed religious orders, enclosure of a monastery or convent.' ...

at the orphanage considered her to be "too pretty" and at risk of "falling away" (in other words, becoming pregnant); Martha Cooney told a relative she had been sexually assaulted by her cousin, and she was whisked off to a laundry too; and Christina Mulcahy gave birth to a child out of wedlock. The child was taken away from her and put up for adoption, and Mulcahy was then disowned by her family before being taken to a laundry in Galway while she was still lactating. The women recall the abuse they suffered at the hands of Catholic religious orders and the gruelling working regime in the laundries. Brigid Young once had her hair cut off by the mother superior for getting too friendly with one of the penitents. While many of the penitents stayed in the laundries all their lives, Phyllis Valentine, Martha Cooney, and Christina Mulcahy eventually left the laundries under different circumstances: Valentine began to rebel against the nuns, refusing to do her work, even letting her hair grow and throwing a tantrum when the nuns brought a hairdresser in to cut it. Eventually, in 1964, after eight years incarceration, Valentine was released. Cooney spent four years in an asylum before she was rescued by her cousin. Mulcahy, meanwhile, was facing the prospect of life inside the laundry, but after three years, she managed to escape, and she fled to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

to work as a

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

. Adapting to life outside, however, proved to be a challenge. Phyllis Valentine says she felt people knew that she'd been in a Magdalene laundry, even though in truth, they knew nothing about her. Valentine later married and had children, but she was uncomfortable with the sexual aspect of the marriage, since the nuns had never prepared her for the outside world. As a result, she and her husband gradually drifted apart. Martha Cooney never married, because, in her own words, "I never wanted anybody to have power over me, or chain me ever again". Christina Mulcahy also married and had children, but did not tell her family about her illegitimate son until she was diagnosed with a terminal illness. With her family's help, Mulcahy was reunited with her son shortly before her death in February 1997.

Reception

Although made in and recounting events in Ireland, the state broadcaster,

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

, declined to broadcast the documentary, and it was first shown on the UK's

. Approximately 450 survivors contacted a helpline after the first airing. The documentary inspired

Peter Mullan Peter Mullan (; born 1959) is a Scottish actor and filmmaker. His credits include '' Riff-Raff'' (1991), '' Shallow Grave'' (1994), ''Braveheart'' (1995), '' Trainspotting'' (1996), '' My Name Is Joe'' (1998), '' The Claim'' (2000), '' Neds'' ( ...

's 2002 film, ''

'', which based in narrative on that of four women featured in the documentary, and is referenced in the 2013 film,

Philomena Philomena ( ), also known as Saint Philomena (; ) or Philomena of Rome ( 10 January 291 10 August 304) was a virgin (title)#Virgin martyrs, virgin martyr whose remains were discovered on May 24–25, 1802, in the Catacomb of Priscilla. Three ti ...

. A historian, James M Smith, a leading researcher on the laundries and a member of the Justice for Magdalenes advisory committee, noted a shortcoming was that it didn't "incorporate the religious orders' version of the Magdalene story", but that "the survivor testimony has been consistent."

References

External links

*
Report of the Child Abuse Commission

Justice for Magdalenes
an advocacy group for survivors of Magdalene Laundries

Film content

Reception

References

External links

Further reading