In 1998, a plot of convent land in Dublin was sold by nuns to real estate developers. An incredible discovery was soon made on that plot of land: the remains of 133 women buried in unmarked graves. The women buried here were inmates of one of the ten Magdalene Asylums, institutes run by the Catholic Church which were essentially slave labor institutions. The asylums were named after Mary Magdalene, a prostitute who repented and became a devout follower of Christ, according to Catholic belief. The asylums were meant to rehabilitate girls who were considered “sinners” according to the Catholic faith. The “sins” that these girls committed were related to sexual actions. For most girls incarcerated, they had given birth out of wedlock and were separated from their babies and put into these asylums, usually by their families. Other girls were incarcerated for engaging in sexual activities out of wedlock, whether they consented or not, or even simply being pretty enough that they caught boys’ attention. The asylums were run by Catholic nuns who treated the women in a manner which, to call “terrible” would be quite the understatement. Amazingly the last Magdalene Asylum stayed open until 1996.
The documentary Sex in a Cold Climate tells the stories of four women who were forced to endure the tragic hardships of time spent in the Magdalene Asylums – three in the actual asylums themselves, and one in a related Magdalene orphanage. Catholic belief saw sex outside of marriage as a sin comparable to murder, and engaging in such acts was means for punishment. In fact, even to just ponder your own body was considered sinful.
Brigid Young grew up in an orphanage connected to the Magdalene asylums. The girls were required to bind their chests in order to appear as flat as possible. If a girl had nice hair, the hair was cut to prevent vanity. Brigid recalled sexual harassment they endured on a weekly basis. Every Saturday night, the girls were made to line up and strip naked as the nuns humiliated the girls by making fun of their bodies. The orphans in the Magdalene Orphanages were not allowed to have any contact with the Magdalene girls. The girls were made to believe that the Magdalenes were evil sinners, comparable to the devil. Brigid recalls one instance when she brought laundry from the orphanage up to the asylum for the Magdalenes to clean. When handing off the laundry, the Magdalene girl asked Brigid if her daughter was at the orphanage. Brigid responded that she was in fact there, and the made a plan for Brigid to bring the girl to a part of the orphanage land where the Magdalene girl could see her daughter, however they got caught on the way. A nun brought the girls to the Reverend Mother who beat the girls severely and violently shaved their heads to the point that their faces and necks were swollen, cut and bleeding from the scissors and razor, saying to the girls, “you’re not so pretty now, are you?” All because they spoke to one of the girls in the Magdalene Asylum.
Brigid also recalled being sexually assaulted by a priest. She reported that he masturbated on her multiple times, and though at the time she did not know what exactly was going on, she knew it wasn’t right. She knew that if she had said anything about the incidents, she would have instantly been sent to the Magdalene Asylums, so she was forced to keep it to herself. Brigid managed to leave the orphanage, avoiding ever becoming a Magdalene, but the torture she went through in the orphanage stayed with her for the rest of her life, especially negatively affecting her marriage.
Christina Mulcahy had sex out of wedlock and got pregnant. She gave birth to a baby boy and hoped to marry the baby’s father. However, the nuns overseeing her after the birth cut of contact between Christina and the baby’s father, and took away her baby, then 10 months old. The nuns wouldn’t even let Christina say goodbye. After being separated from her son, Christina attempted to return home but was told by her father that she was not allowed back in his house, as she had disgraced her family by giving birth to an illegitimate child. Christina managed to escape the asylum after three years and was able to seek refuge with an old friend of hers temporarily before escaping to Northern Ireland. She married and had a family of her own, but did not tell them about her first son until 6 months prior to the filming of the documentary.
Martha Cooney was sexually assaulted by a male relative at the age of 14. After telling her cousin about the incident, her family immediately sent her away to one of the asylums. She was rescued by her cousin after spending four years in the asylum. She never wanted to marry or make a commitment to anyone, because she didn’t want anyone to ever have power over her again.
Phyllis Valentine grew up in a Catholic orphanage and was told one day that work had been found for her in a Laundry, and was transported to one of the Magdalene Asylums. She was told right away that her hair would have to be cut because long hair was not allowed, and her long hair was cut up to her ears. Phyllis began to rebel, not attending mass or meals or allowing the nuns to cut her hair, throwing fits and losing her temper until they backed off. She was finally released after eight years. She recalled how difficult it was to be out in the world after spending time in the asylums, fearing that people knew about her past just by looking at her. Phyllis married but had no desire for the sexual aspect of her marriage, feeling ashamed every time her husband touched her. She had children, but eventually divorced because of her emotional issues resulting from her time in the asylums.
The girls were required to work in laundries seven days a week without pay. Cleaning the dirty clothes was supposed to be representative of cleaning the dirty sins from their lives. The girls worked side by side but were not allowed to speak a word to one another. Phyllis asked early on to be paid for her work, to which the nuns simply laughed in her face and told her that she was there to work, without pay, until someone came to get her.
Since most of the women were unwed mothers, one of the main objectives was to sever the thoughts the women had about their children. They were not allowed to see their children or hear anything about them, aside from the occasional news of their children being adopted. Many women became hysterical about this, resulting in punishment by the nuns. Corporal punishment was extremely common. Girls would be pushed, slapped, punched, and whipped by the nuns on a regular basis. They were told that their lives were no longer worth living, that they were not worthy of a life outside of the walls that trapped them in.
The church has kept the number of girls who passed through the Magdalene Asylums a secret, though the number is believed to be about 30,000. There was nothing Godly or Christly about the asylums. Brigid describes them as “devils dressed in nuns’ habits.” Phyllis does not pray or go to church anymore. She believes that if there was a just God, none of the girls would have had to go through the torture they endured.
The film The Magdalene Sisters tells the stories of the women featured in the documentary, showing accounts of the torture and abuse the girls actually went through on a daily basis. The girls were completely stripped of their rights. Both films are extremely powerful and wonderfully depict the unimaginable things these girls were forced to endure because their chastity was considered compromised.
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