Mother-and-baby home survivors who are involved in the arts are being joined by poets, actors and musicians, including Christy Moore, for an online event marking the legacy of the institutions.
'Breaking the Silence' presented by the International Literature Festival Dublin and the National Concert Hall is being livestreamed from 8pm tonight.
It will be available to watch for free for seven days after the event.
"We're coming back from 76 years of enforced shame and silence, and it's important that our testimonies are out there."
Noelle Brown, who was born at the Bessborough mother-and-baby home in the 1960s, has poured her past into her creativity.
The actor, writer, and adoption rights' activist, who co-wrote and performed in the play Postscript about searching for her origins, will read some of her work in the National Concert Hall tonight.
She describes 'Breaking the Silence' as hugely important.
"The more events that happen like this, the better," she says. "We're coming back from 76 years of enforced shame and silence, and it's important that our testimonies are out there. We need to be able to tell people what happened and to be heard."
Noelle Brown said it is crucial that the public knows the legacy of what adopted people face in not having access to birth certs, birth information and medical records.
"Events like tonight's is a way of sharing truth, fighting for justice and hopefully reconciliation," she adds.
That legacy is evident in Andrew Hendy's family.
"They both believe that she may be alive, or she may be dead, but either way, they deserve to know."
A member of the Co Louth band The Mary Wallopers, he will be performing in honour of his oldest sister who his parents were told had died after her birth.
She still hasn't been located.
It was his mother and father's first child.
A healthy baby when she was born, she was taken from her young mother who was later informed the child had died.
Andrew says the nuns told his mother that she'd be fine. She would have another baby.
Since then, the Hendys have searched for their daughter's grave.
There is no record of her at Glasnevin Cemetery where they were told she had been buried.
"They both believe that she may be alive, or she may be dead, but either way, they deserve to know," he says.
Hendy will perform Lovers and Friends by Sean Mone which addresses the wounds and scars from battle and war.
Musician Terri Harrison who was separated from her son after she gave birth at Bessborough 48 years ago, will also play tonight.
"I am his mother to the day I die, and I want him to know that because I believe our children were hurt so badly."
Ms Harrison says she's proud to be involved in 'Breaking the Silence'.
"In 1973, I was taken out of England and brought back to this country into an institution and that was the beginning and the end. My life has been totally destroyed by what happened in the 1970s," she says.
She will play a piece she wrote called 'Stolen Innocence' on the piano.
Ms Harrison hopes the event will help the public "to open their hearts" and give survivors like her an opportunity to tell their stories.
Her performance tonight will be for her son.
She said: "Nobody will ever give me back the 48 years I've lost with my son, but it can give my son out there wherever he is, the knowledge that he was loved, wanted, cherished and still is.
"I am his mother to the day I die, and I want him to know that because I believe our children were hurt so badly."
In curating the event, Caelainn Hogan has brought her extensive knowledge about Ireland's institutional history to the fore.
"...we're in a really pivotal time where people are finally speaking to each other and about this legacy; people who felt they were silenced for so long."
Her book, Republic of Shame documents the legacy of the religious-run institutions in Ireland.
During her research, Ms Hogan met survivors who used songs, poetry and writing to express their experiences.
'Breaking the Silence' is a collaboration of the creativity that she discovered amongst the survivors.
"I think we're in a really pivotal time where people are finally speaking to each other and about this legacy; people who felt they were silenced for so long," she says.
News that Christy Moore will perform tonight has also been welcomed.
"Through his songs, he has always spoken about real issues and has spoken out for truth," according to Caelainn.
Further details on tonight's event can be found on the International Literature Festival Dublin website and the National Concert Hall website.
