Analysis: A new project will look at the history of Dublin's Temple Hill and Bird's Nest children's homes through interviews with adoptees and employees
By Declan Monaghan and Jennifer Brady, Maynooth University
Adoption in 20th-century Ireland was a consequence of a relentless atmosphere of both Catholic and Protestant religious piousness that deemed childbirth outside marriage as wickedness and a sin against the social fabric of the community. Adoption was viewed as "a viable solution to something that was regarded as having interrupted the proper functioning of social processes".
Of course, much has changed since and Irish religious institutions are certainly no longer as all-powerful as they once were, but adopted people who went through that system can be found throughout most villages, towns and cities in Ireland and abroad. Adoption Rights Alliance estimates that 100,000 unmarried women had their children adopted domestically from 1922 to 1998. They also note that at least 1,933 were legally adopted to America, with suggestions of another 10,000 illegally adopted.
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From RTÉ 2fm's Jennifer Zamparelli show, Susan Lohan from the Adoption Rights Alliance discusses new birth information and tracing legislation
Some adoptees have bravely ventured on the rocky road of discovery to trace their lineage. While many have enjoyed joyful reunions, others faced the harsh reality of cold rejection by biological parents unwilling to recognise the legacies of the past. Meanwhile, graveside plots have greeted others where their story abruptly ends.
One common characteristic that bounds adoptees is uncertainty: where did we originate? What was the rationale behind our rejection? Do we have blood siblings? What is our medical history? With this in mind, we are currently researching the St. Patrick’s Infant Dietetic Hospital and Nursing College and the Birds Nest Children’s Home to provide much-needed information on both institutions for adoptees and past residents.
In 1971, Declan was adopted from St. Patrick’s Infant and Dietetic Hospital, more familiarly known as Temple Hill, in Blackrock, Dublin, at four months of age. In 1974, nine month old Jennifer was adopted from The Birds Nest Orphanage on York Road in Dun Laoghaire. These two institutions are only 1.5 miles apart and have housed hundreds, if not thousands, of children over the decades.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Ray D'Arct Show in 2017, Noleen Ennis Hickey and Ann Fitzgerald join Ray in studio today to talk of their personal experiences of Temple Hill and adoption
Temple Hill is an old Georgian manor previously known as Neptune House. It was built in 1767 and acquired a short time later by the first Earl of Clonmel, John Scott (1739-98). After Scott died, Neptune House had several owners. In the 1910s, Mary Josephine Cruice established St Patrick's Guild in Dublin as a bulwark against Protestant children’s homes in the Dublin area. St Patrick’s Guild was under the direction of the Religious Sisters of Charity. Twenty years later, the Guild purchased Neptune House and established St Patrick’s Infant and Dietetic Hospital.
This institution, a hospital in name only, acted as a feeder branch for the public hospital system where unmarried women placed children for adoption. It housed babies as young as a few days up to children of toddler age. It also acted as an institution for training nurses who spent 18 months on an exam-based course. There has been much controversy around St Patrick's Guild, from adoption scandals concerning babies exported to America to the supply of false information to people seeking to trace birth parents.
The Bird's Nest Orphanage in Dun Laoghaire was a Protestant institution founded in the 1850s by Ellen Smyly under the Smyly Trust. It was established in memory of Elizabeth Whately and Mrs George Whale, the wife and daughter of the former Protestant Archbishop of Dublin, Richard Whately. The Bird’s Nest housed children up to twelve years of age. One of its most famous occupants is the former Irish footballer Paul McGrath who was critical of the abusive regime at the institution in his 2007 autobiography Back From the Brink.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Oliver Callan Show, former Temple Hill nurse Cathy Garten on her experiences at the home
The aim of our project is to publish a book addressing the history of both institutions through oral interviews, and outlining our personal experiences as Catholic and Protestant adoptees growing up in Ireland. To date, we have interviewed 20 former trainee nurses from Temple Hill and two former nurses from the Birds Nest. It should be noted that the stories to date have cast new light on the circumstances. While the narrative around adoption homes has been justifiably negative, it is refreshing to hear many positive recollections from the former employees of both institutions
We also intend to create a website where all Temple Hill and Bird’s Nest adoptees can hear the interviews with nurses, other employees and residents. We hope to categorise each year with bibliographical information (anonymous if requested) on the participants.
It should be noted that the stories to date have cast new light on the circumstances
This is an invaluable aspect of the project as adoptees will be afforded the opportunity to listen to accounts of nurses who may have been working in the institutions while the adoptee was there. In other words, adoptees will be able to garner crucial information concerning the first few weeks and months of their lives without going through a long, drawn-out process.
Several nurses have told us they would dearly love to meet adoptees they may have handled all those years ago. Indeed, we ourselves have met nurses who tended to us in these institutions. This was a hugely emotional experience for all concerned, but it was one of the most positive aspects of the project to date, and it was a pivotal life experience.
Please get in touch with the authors - Declan.Monaghan@mu.ie or Jennifer.Brady@mu.ie - if you are a former employee (nurses, doctors, other related medical staff, kitchen staff) or adoptee from either Temple Hill or the Bird's Nest and would like to be interviewed about your experience.
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Dr Declan Monaghan is a postdoctoral researcher in the Arts and Humanities Institute at Maynooth University. Jennifer Brady is a PhD student, John & Pat Hume Doctoral scholar and a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of History at Maynooth University..
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
