Girl in the Tunnel: My Story of Love and Loss as a Survivor of the Magdalene Laundries

by Maureen Sullivan

When Maureen Sullivan was just twelve years old, she confided in her teacher that she was being physically and sexually abused by her stepfather. Never, in her darkest imaginings, could she have dreamt that she would be the one who would face a harrowing punishment.

Within twenty-four hours, Maureen was taken from her home and her beloved grandmother, and sent to the Magdalene Laundry in New Ross, Co. Wexford, run by the Order of the Good Shepherd nuns. She was told that she would receive an education there, but instead she was immediately stripped of her meagre possessions and thrown into forced labour, washing clothes and scrubbing floors in inhumane and unrelenting conditions. Not allowed to speak, barely fed, and often going without water, the child was viciously beaten by the nuns for years and hidden away in an underground tunnel when government inspectors came. No one must see how cruelly the nuns were treating her.

In the heart-breaking Girl in the Tunnel, Maureen bravely recounts her agonising journey from a monstrously violent home to the cold and brutal Magdalene laundry system, and her desperate, gruelling fight for freedom and for justice.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Ireland, Ebooks, History, Irish Literature, Religion

256 pages, Paperback

Published April 25, 2023

Reviews

[Aoife Cassidy McM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sincere and compelling, Maureen Sullivan's story (co-written with Liosa McNamara) of her incarceration in three of Ireland's Magdalene Laundries is an important addition to the bibliography of books on the subject.

Maureen grew up in rural Co Carlow in the 1950s and 60s and was viciously beaten and raped by her stepfather from the age of 8. When she was 12, Maureen confided in a schoolteacher, Sr Cecelia. In response, the nuns arranged for Maureen to be taken to a convent in New Ross, Co Wexford. She was told she was going to school there but instead, she was imprisoned and made to work in the laundry there, effectively enslaved for her teenage years. Because she was a child, she was hidden in a tunnel by the nuns when the State inspectors came to visit. Maureen was trafficked to two other laundries, before being freed.

The Catholic Church later denied that Maureen had ever been enslaved in the Magdalene Laundry at New Ross, insisting that she had attended the adjoining school. Finally, the Church admitted that this was not the case and a nun confirmed to Maureen that she had been held captive because as a sexually abused child, the Church feared that she would corrupt the other children.

I read this book in two sittings and tabbed many passages. The following struck me as particularly poignant:

"Years later I saw that they had recorded me in the convent records as "troublesome". When I saw that, in my late fifties, after years of trying to get them to admit I was there at all, it really hurt me through and through. I felt completely destroyed by that word. I was a little child. I'd been raped and abused, I was confused and imprisoned, and they looked at me in my situation and thought I was troublesome. As an adult, I imagine travelling back in time to knock on the door and take those harridans, those evil bitches, to task over the terrified little girl they had on their hands and knees scrubbing their floors and burning their hands in their laundry.
What absolute devils they all were. Every single one of them.
Troublesome, they called me.
That has hurt me more, I think, than anything else."

I can't help but think that we are still a long way from confronting our dark past in this country. More power to Maureen for telling her story and for all the work she has done in seeking justice for Magdalenes.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Girl In The Tunnel is a memoir of Maureen Sullivan, a survivor of the Magdalene Laundries, a system of institutions run by Catholic nuns in Ireland that exploited and abused thousands of women and girls for decades. Sullivan was only twelve years old when she was taken from her home and sent to the laundry in New Ross, Co. Wexford, where she endured unimaginable horrors and hardships. She was forced to work long hours in inhumane conditions, beaten, starved, and hidden in an underground tunnel when inspectors came. She was denied an education, a childhood, and a voice. She was treated as a slave, a sinner, and a nobody.

Sullivan’s story is a testament to her courage, resilience, and strength. She does not shy away from the painful details of her abuse, but she also shares the moments of love and hope that sustained her. She writes with honesty, compassion, and dignity, giving a voice to the voiceless and exposing the truth about the Magdalene Laundries. She also chronicles her fight for justice and recognition, as well as her struggles with trauma and healing. She shows how she reclaimed her identity, her freedom, and her life.

Girl In The Tunnel is a harrowing and heartbreaking book, but also a powerful and inspiring one. It is a story of survival, resistance, and redemption. It is a story of a woman who refused to be silenced, who fought for her rights, and who found her voice. It is a story that deserves to be read, heard, and remembered.

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Girl in the Tunnel caught my eye at a bookstore in Kilkenny, Ireland. When I picked it up, I saw that it was signed by the author and then I read the synopsis. I usually steer away from stories about abuse but I wanted to read Sullivan's story to honor her bravery for sharing it. It is an important story to share publicly because it will inspire change. If we cannot accept the ugly truth of the past, we cannot expect to change the present or the future. While the beginning was the most difficult to get through with her horrific stories of sexual abuse, it was also filled with beautiful stories about Granny who was her saving grace. Eventually she shares her resolution and the bumpy road it took to gain peace. Thinking about my own hardships, Sullivan has given me a fresh perspective on what hard really is. While reading Girl in the Tunnel, I have experienced more gratitude. I have complained less about a "hard day" at work. There is no comparison. What Sullivan has done for me personally is change my perspective to help me recognize the joy and comforts I live with daily. Thank you Maureen for sharing your story. You are making a difference in the world. Girl in the Tunnel is well written, engaging, heartfelt, and painful but also inspiring.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

This memoir sheds a stark light on the harrowing intersection of church and state power in Ireland and the atrocious treatment of women. The author's account of growing up in Ireland, enduring abuse by her stepfather, and then being punished and silenced by being sent to the Magdalene Laundries is gut-wrenching. The book exposes the profound injustice and cruelty inflicted by both society and the church. It's sickening to think of how women were treated under this system, and it is a shameful chapter in Ireland's history. Reading this solidified my view of the church as a deeply troubling institution.

I would have liked to know more about what happened after she left the Laundries. Did she go back and see her granny, whom she described so lovingly in the book? Additionally, more details about her fight against the Laundries would have been insightful.

[Olivia Ransom · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a harrowing story, I read this book in 2 sittings, Maureen suffered horrifically at the hands of her stepfather first, then the nuns that brutally beat her and made her work as a slave. The Catholic nuns from the Magdalene convent's regime stripped her of everything, her name, her education, and childhood. I'd like to meet Maureen in person.

[Shelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second half of the book was an informative and interesting historical account of the author’s experience in the Magdalene Laundries. The first half of the book is about the abuse she went thru as a child by her stepfather, which was horrible …. in saying that, I believe the book should have been titled differently. I was under the impression, from the title, that the majority of the memoir would be about the Laundries. Also, the 2nd half of the book was quite repetitive and had several typos.

[Anna Perdue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to say this is an enjoyable book but it is a necessary one and extremely well-written. It portrays the emotion of what she went through so well, I could understand her mindset and felt it myself.

This book starts in Sullivan's childhood, outlining her family history and the start of the abuse she faced at the hands of her stepfather. She describes the hopelessness she felt and dread at returning home every day, but also the bright spots of visits from and weekends with her beloved Granny. Of course all that is snatched away when she is betrayed for telling a trusted teacher about the abuse and sent to the laundry. Sullivan lays bare the blatant injustice of the laundries for imprisoning a child in forced labor, whatever other excuses people might make for their treatment of women, and the complicity of the Irish government.

An absolutely necessary account of part of recent Irish history that some would rather ignore and bury. For all of my interested American friends, I'd recommend researching more about the incredible journalism of Catherine Corless and the Tuam laundry. Shocking and disgraceful. Sullivan makes the assertion that the Catholic Church is the worst thing to happen to Ireland which, considering their history with the British is quite a bold thing to say, but hard to blame her for when you know what she went through.

I was very impressed by how much grace Sullivan extended to her mother as well, something I struggled to do myself. I consider myself a feminist and know instances of domestic violence and extreme abuse are never as simple as "just leave" but I still found myself asking how someone could let this happen. But Sullivan takes great care to explain how powerless women were in Irish society when she was growing up. She really had no choice. Leaving would condemn her children to something even worse. Her highlighting that shows great maturity and perspective and importantly rebuts victim blamers.

My one wish is that this had been longer. The book cuts off when she leaves the laundry as a traumatized child who has had no formal education for 4 years. It then jumps to her account of her life 20 years later but I would have liked to know what she did after the laundry. Did she go back to school or find a job? How did she adjust to life again after such an experience? How did she repair her relationship with her mother? What about her reunion with her brothers and granny? There was a lot left open that I would've loved to know more about. But still a powerful and very well-written book.

[Phillip J. O'Brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this over a few days. It is the story of the author’s life in three different Magdalene Laundries - New Ross, Athy, and Dublin. It is a distressing story and I believe it needed to be better told than the co-writer (Liosa McNamara) produced.
I would certainly recommend people to read it.

[Jamie Johnson Leach]

Reminded me of A Child Called It in style and content. The terrible things people do to children is gut wrenching. The Magdelene Laundries were allowed to torture children for far too long.

[Kim Savage · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a horribly sad story. This poor girl. The tragic things that go on in this world makes me ill. I’m thankful that she had the will to become a survivor and can tell her story to the world.

[Diane DeForest · Rating 3 out of 5]

Average read

Not the best, not the worst. She flops the story around in places and it makes it somewhat confusing. Just meh.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This excellent memoir for me, was the anti-dote to the shortcomings I had with Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These. Keegan's novel does everything except go inside the establishment to find out who is in there, why and how they are being treated. Instead it focuses on one man who is portrayed as kindly and empathetic. That man will takes an action, while the author commits a sin of omission, maintaining a societal silence that continues to bind many, neglecting to show anything relating to those unjustly incarcerated inside.

Maureen Sullivan's second paragraph of the author's note in the front of the book explains a lot.

It might surprise you, or it might not, to know that there are people still pushing me to stay silent. There are people who want this book kept from your hands. People who say to me in the street, 'Would you not get over it?' People who tell me to shut up about it - they defend men and they defend the Catholic Church.
But this is my story to tell and this is how I remember it.

Maureen was not even a teenager when she was taken from her school, from her family, from her loving Granny, and without being told where she was going, only that she was to attend a new school and would have to live there. None of her questions were ever answered. She would be deposited at the Magdalene laundry in New Ross, County Wexford run by the Order of the Good Shepherd nuns. Stripped of her possessions including the new pencil case her mother bought her as she was leaving, she was thrown into forced labour, washing clothes, pressing linens and scrubbing floors, forbidden an education or contact with any of the children who attended the school there.

I changed most of the names in this book - my abuser, relatives, locals and the nuns - because I'm not out to hurt or for revenge. I wrote this book because I was silenced as a child when I was the victim of abuse and I was silenced by society when I left the laundry. I want people to know what happened. This is my history, but it's also the history of this country.

Someone recently said to me that a great opening line of a book can foreshadow the entire story. When I go back and read the first line of Maureen's memoir, I find so many of the reasons for what happened to her, there in that line.

I never knew my father, John L. Sullivan, but there was a photograph of him on the wall in my grandmother's house.

Maureen's mother was married, nineteen and pregnant with Maureen when her father died suddenly leaving two young sons and an unborn daughter. They lived with her Granny, her father's mother, the only person in her life who ever spoke of the father she never knew. But her Granny was poor and her mother quickly married and created a new family with another man, Marty Murphy, who from very early on took out all his frustrations on the dead man's children.

My brother's and I were terrified of Marty from day one. He didn't restrain himself and lost his temper in a second, sometimes for nothing you could place, and he would go for you, even in his boots, and his kicks would hurt for days. He really hated us. Or he hated himself, maybe, for what he couldn't stop doing to us, but either way living with Marty was like living with the devil himself. We suffered every single day.

Maureen describes their lives in incredible and evocative detail. Being so poor and having so little, when she describes the few tender and joyous moments, they stand out in the narrative, as they clearly did in her mind as that child.

The way it is written is absolutely captivating, not because of the misery or injustices, but because of the emotional intelligence exhibited. It is so honest and evocative of the way a child would experience things, except that Maureen has grown up and is able to express the questions and thoughts she had as a child. But she does so, with an understanding of where her country and society is today and how it was then. Nevertheless, there is no excuse for the cruelty and lack of basic human rights she experienced. There is a lot that remains hidden and denied to this day.

It's hard to imagine the reasons for people behaving as they did, given how fast Ireland has progressed, and it's hard to imagine how my mother thought things through. I know now she had no choices - women were the property of their husbands. Their bodies belonged to the men they married, their children did too.

When Maureen responds to the kind voice of her favourite teacher at school and opens up to her questions, she believes that she is going to rescued, perhaps even go to live with her Granny. This idea of being with her Granny was so powerful, she told her everything.

So I told on him. I told on Marty. I sat there in that room with a chocolate in my mouth and an open heart and talked about it.

When her mother arrives after being called in by the school and sees Maureen sitting in the hallway, she asks her why she is not in class. And worse.

As she went by me, she turned and said, 'Oh Maureen, what have you done?' She knocked on the office door and disappeared through it.
What had I done?

That same day she would be removed and taken to the laundry. She would also be told that she had a new name. They all did.

For years I couldn't figure out why our names were changed in the Magdalene laundries. What reason had they? A number would have made more sense to me if they wanted us to be nothing and nobody. But a number is a way to trace us, and it would have been unique. It would have been remembered and displayed somewhere. By changing our names they made sure, not that we struggled on the inside, but that on the outside we had no way to identify or find each other. And how could we stand as a witness to what went on there if there was nothing to say we had been there at all? We didn't exist.

Maureen describes all the work they do in the laundry by day and then the work they must do at night, in the tin boxes. It is revelatory and will not leave any reader unaffected. Merely describing the day to day activities and routine of their lives, and who they were not - (at the time she was in New Ross none of the women there were pregnant), is captivating. A 1911 census referred to them as "inmates;" at New Ross they were referred to as penitents.

It means a person who seeks forgiveness for their sins. There were no sinners in New Ross. Just victims, victims of the patriarchy, victims of misogyny.

The tunnel was the long corridor that separated the sleeping area and the children's school from the laundry. Every so often she would be locked in there. When the men in suits arrived.

Those men in suits were likely state inspectors. They were sent around to all of the Magdalene laundries in Ireland to check on conditions.

People like Maureen were not supposed to be in the laundry being used as child labour, so they were hidden.

Maureen's story is an important record of the historical treatment of girls and young women in Ireland, and a testament to the proliferation of abuses in households and the historic risk of speaking out.

Sharing their stories can change things. Last year, one of the best books I read was another memoir
Poor: Grit, courage, and the life-changing value of self-belief by Katriona O'Sullivan. That book has had and continues to have a significant impact in changing societal attitudes.

Highly Recommended.

Further Reading: Ireland and the Magdalene Laundries: A Campaign for Justice

[Caoilo · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is difficult to know how to start reviews on non fiction. How I came across this book was due to an internet search. I was looking for the story of a woman in a Wexford Magdalene Laundry who escaped via a laundry van. Somewhere along the lines I confused the two women's stories and went into this book thinking Sullivan escaped the Magdalene Laundry in New Ross, this was most certainly not the case.

I then took it up that when the nuns hid her in the tunnel it was for her safety ie to keep her away form her stepfather. Another misconception.

The truth, spoilers beyond this point.

The book tells of how Sullivan and her brothers suffered years of neglect by both her mother and stepfather, how her stepfather beat her and her two brothers, while also raping Maureen in secret. So bad were the beatings that one cost Sullivan the last of her baby teeth. So bad were the rapes they caused her hip damage.

She was taken from the family, not to be cared for or loved or given to a new family. No, she was sent to a Maggie. Why not the school next door to that very Magdalene Laundry? because (in the eyes of the church) she had been in the wrong. She had been the one to tempt a "good man" into sin. Personally I knew this from the moment she is put to work, but for Maureen Sullivan, it took decades and an admission from a Nun to put the pieces together. Sullivan had been so young when it happened, all of 12, that she grew up literally not understanding how the church could do that to a child. The church tried to deny that she was there, even all those years later.

The only good things in Maureen's life where her full blood brothers and her paternal grandmother, and the church even took them away from her. I felt conflicted about the actions or inaction of Maureen's mother. Yes "times were different" and I know she was trying to live a quite life but I still think something else could have been done.

I'll try not to give away everything but I was taken aback in the end at how Maureen left her last institution. Not really surprised when I thought about it, after all the Catholic Church was and still is, all about money, well that and abuse.


Of course the themes of this book are quiet obvious, abuse, neglect, anti-feminism, feminism, childhood, family, love, shame, rape, secrecy, religion as an excuse, displacement, trafficking, slavery, child abuse, trust, betrayal, grief, Sullivan even touches on disability.

Most of the good moments in the book are when Sullivan is with her grandmother. I felt that too, how her grandmother was so kind and loving and caring. Though there was a situation where she planted Sullivan in a very perspicacious position. Where in, if Sullivan had been caught she would surly have paid with more than money. And that I felt made the granny more like the rest of Sullivan's family than I care to admit.

I don't think there are many descriptive words that can describe a book of this content. It would feel wrong to say "good" or "enjoined" All I can truly say is that I am a slow reader and I read this, almost 300 page book, in two days. I also wrote down a lot of quotes from the book that I felt were true. Now as 36 year old woman who was never abducted into a religious institution, I was surprised that I felt Sullivan and I had so much in common.

As with even the best books, of course there were a few things that I didn't like about the writing. Most noticeably the "in those days" comment was extreamly over used. And a lot of the things that preceded that comment are still quiet common. For example, washing powder can still come in cardboard boxes, though electricity is widely available there are those who do not have it, particularly children of abuse, the same with phones. And during my time at school 90's - 00's we also wrapped our school books in wallpaper. I also had times where I had to eat goody (without the sugar) and other times when my sisters and I starved but had to hide it as it was also not considered normal in the 90's and 00's.

There was also the un-faminist remark that "women in those days were fit from walking and from work" It is perhaps the only anti-feminist comment Sullivan makes in the book. However as someone who walks most places and never learned to drive (because there was no one there to teach me, my poor disabled body has suffered due to this) it was a little upsetting to read that.

I felt most of these comments would be alienating to readers. So to the last problem I had, in the book Sullivan goes to work at a school for the blind. She gives the full name and describes it as it would have been called at the time which is factually correct. However, instead of calling it St Mary's when referring to it after that point, or calling it the school for the blind, or the blind people school she simply calls it, the blind school. That grated on me no end, also the use of the word Asylum. It may have been called that at the time but after acknowledging that fact, does if have to be continued to be described that way in the book?! As a disabled person I felt it was ablest wording. let me clarify I am NOT saying Sullivan IS ablest only that the wording is. And again I think that upset me because there is a great quote in this book from one of Sullivan's friends, Nora. I wont put it here but keep an eye out, it comes near the end of the book.

To recap, the story was soul destroying over all, but with moments of happiness. I think the over all feeling I get from this book, is that Maureen Sullivan will not be silenced. I for one am glad of it! The Church has gotten and continues to get away with too much. I hope Sullivan writes a book on how she got the truth out, she mentions a judge who called her a liar, I would like to know about that. I wish her well and hope to continue to see her name in print. And that she find some sort of peace in the end.

[Terri Durling · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read and true story of love and loss as a survivor of the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, Maureen Sullivan, is truly a survivor in every sense of the word. Maureen was only twelve years old when she confided in a teacher that she was being physically and sexually abused by her stepfather. What followed was truly hard to comprehend as she was immediately sent to what she thought was going to be a school run by the Order of the Good Shepherd nuns and she was actually relieved to be able to escape from her abuser. She was never given the opportunity to get her education and, in fact, was kept away from the other children who did attend school. Instead, she worked with adult women in the laundries doing harsh labour without very little reprieve. Her name was changed from Maureen to Frances and every day was a drudgery of long hours, working every day from dawn to dusk and always under the watchful eye of the nuns. If she slowed down or did anything wrong, she was hit and/or beaten. The women were not allowed to talk and so they became shadows of their former selves, living in fear with no love or break from their monotonous lives. She was a slave in every way. Women in Irish society at that time were second class citizens with no rights. The Catholic Church ruled and the priests, husbands, male family members made all the decisions. I do not know how Maureen survived her monstrously violent home after her mother remarried and then the cold, brutal Magdalene laundry system. The only bright light in her life was her grannie (her biological father’s mother). She and her two brothers went there every weekend after her mother remarried and it was an escape from his abuse and brutality. Grannie loved them and showed them with affection in every way, even though she was very poor and elderly. Maureen wanted desperately to stay with her grannie but, instead, she was shipped off to a place where she was further abused and mistreated. Her mother was aware of the abuse by her second husband and, probably thought it best to do as the priest/teacher of Maureen’s school recommended - to send to to what everyone thought was going to be a safe haven away from the stepfather where she could finish her education in peace. Her mother only visited twice during her years at the laundries and there was always a nun present so Maureen could never tell the truth about her life there. This trauma affected Maureen for the rest of her life after she was finally able to leave. She was unable or maintain relationships, was terrified of the dark (having been put in a dark tunnel for hours if inspectors came to the laundries), and tried to end her life in her mid 30s. The finally sought help and it took years to finally be able to talk about what had happened to her. She wrote this book to make people aware of the atrocities of that time, to fight for freedom and for justice. The laundries operated until the mid 1990s.

[Elizabeth Cart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I awarded this book a five star for bravery, easy reading and global awareness. Years ago a friend told me I must watch the movie Magdeline Sisters which I did and it was an expose of the horrors inflicted on Irish children between the 1880s and last documented 1996. This author was a victim of those crimes against children and her events took place in the 1960s which made her presently close to my own age. The very idea this went on in Ireland while I was dancing to the Beatles records back in America crushed me.
I commend her bravery even at such a later age to detail what happened to her as a small child through her teenage years in such a deplorable institution run by priests and nuns all over Ireland in the Magdeline laundries. To begin with being raped as a very small child by her stepfather and what she endured, how she survived in such an unloving environment except for the grace of her grandmother who lived three miles away and could not interfere because Ireland established some kind of heinous mandate that the men in the family especially a father, had the singular control and dominion over all members of a household. The patriarchal family commanded by the Catholic Church. I myself saw this in many families in America and emotionally and physically left the Catholic Church in the early 1970s so I aligned with her emotional despair. If it wasn't a male in the home, it was the priest who ruled the towns. This author carried her life long such a stigma and PTSD but she tried her level best to change the anger and futility into something else she discusses in her book.
What it brought forth for me was tears of horror, deep compassion, abject anger at the nuns/priests and twisted Catholic belief systems. It only confirmed the corruption I always had felt about these religious proclamations that became crimes against humanity. If we live in a darkened world blindly we can never know the depth of these acts but if we open our eyes and let ourselves see we can be a part of the solution to end it once and for all. It is happening now with child trafficking and abuse and we must encourage more exposure. God must love this woman a great deal to allow her passage to bring light to a very dark subject through her story of torture mental emotional and physical. Highly recommend this book.

[Adrienne Cullen-Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heartbreaking story of a young girl who was abused by her stepfather but made the mistake of telling a nun in holy Ireland in the past. The abuser was not charged or even held to count but the poor 12 year old child was put into a Magdalen home with women and hidden away by the cruel nuns when the inspectors came to call. Deprived of an education, Maureen, was physically abused and left hungry in three different institutions. Her story is one that has become familiar in Ireland where the Magdalen laundries were places of torture not refuge. Even her pencil case was taken away from her along with her childhood. Although I hold the Roman Catholic Church responsible for what happened to this child, along with her stepfather who was a cruel evil brute, I cannot find her mother without sin. That woman allowed this to go on purely because she was afraid of her brutal husband. Like the wives of all sexual abusers, she must have known what was going on under her roof. I cannot absolve this woman from her part in Maureen's downfall. A truly harrowing story that everyone must read so that these brutal nuns, brothers and priests cannot be allowed to get off scott free. Under the mantle of the Roman Catholic Church, brutal things were done to young innocents like Maureen. Even today the Pope has done very little to root out the evil in the church. I read the book in two sittings as it was compelling reading.

[Leona · Rating 5 out of 5]

My February non-fiction pick was Girl in the tunnel a fantastic book that sheds a light on a dark time period in Irish history. This is no easy read as it details the physical and sexual assaults Maureen faced from her stepfather, the fear she had constantly and her time in multiple Magdalene laundries. However the book does detail a lighter side too especially in the chapter on Maureen's time with her grandmother on the Sullivan side. Her grandmother seemed to be the only one in her childhood who actually looked out for Maureen and gave her a loving and safe space.

The book at the start deals with Maureen's early years with a mixture of heartbreak, moments of joy, fear and darkness. Maureen faced both physical and sexual abuse from her stepfather from a young age. When she is 12 she confides in a teacher and within 24 hours her world completely changes. She is sent to a Magdalene laundry in New Ross, Co. Wexford run by the order of the good Shepherd nuns. She was told she would receive an education here but instead is stripped of her possessions and thrown into forced labour with no explanations of what is going on. Not allowed to speak, lack of food and water, beaten by nuns and left in an underground tunnel with inspectors came, this book tells the harrowing story of her life inside this laundry and others. It is utterly heartbreaking from start to finish and it took a huge amount of bravery for Maureen to share her story.

This book will make you so angry at society and how they thought sending children to institutions like the Magdalene laundries would solve the problem and sending the victims to these places instead of actually dealing with the perpetrators. A dark dark time in our history. Overall, definitely a heartbreaking book on Maureen's journey that I would definitely recommend.

[Laura Redondo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maureen Sullivan perdeu o pai ainda bebé, e mudou-se com a mãe e os irmãos para casa do padrasto.
Este não era bondoso com os filhos de outro homem, e abusou sexualmente da enteada, dos 8 aos 12 anos. Um dia, Maureen conta o que o padrasto lhe faz e é enviada para um convento. O plano era afastá-la do abusador o mais possível, sem parar a sua educação, mas a realidade é outra. As freiras ficaram com receio que Maureen fosse contar o que lhe acontecera às outras crianças, e por isso confinaram-na a trabalhar na lavandaria, como uma escrava.
Apesar de tudo, Maureen sobreviveu para contar a sua história e dar a perceber que não deveria ter sido castigada pelos crimes de outra pessoa.
Uma história inspiradora que deve abrir os olhos da sociedade, principalmente no que toca a como esta lida com as vítimas. Apesar de os acontecimentos deste livro se terem passado no século XX, a forma como as vítimas e os agressores são tratados parece não ter mudado muito.

* A classificação atribuída a este livro não reflete, de maneira alguma, uma avaliação às experiências vividas pela autora, nem à maneira como decidiu contar a sua história, sendo apenas um indicador de como me fez refletir sobre os temas abordados e o meu entender do contributo do livro para mudar a mentalidade da sociedade.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maureen was moved to The Magdeline Laundry in New Ross when she was twelve after she confessed to a nun that her stepfather had been abusing her physically and sexually.

She was told she was going to get an education here but this never happened. She was put amongst the older woman and made to work just as hard as them in the laundry room. She was physically and mentally abused every day until her spirit was broken into a thousand pieces.

This was such a hard read and my heart broke at every sentence for this poor little girl who was so badly treated by most of the people in her life. It infuriated me at the number of people who lied, cheated and turned a blind eye to the horrific abuse that was going on around them. No one wanted to upset the catholic church to save this girl from the appalling and gruesome abuse she received from her stepfather and the nuns.

When the state inspectors came the nuns would lock and hide her in the dark tunnel because she was a child and should have been in school instead of working.

Maureen tells in the book about the horrible treatment she has received from people since she told her story. This shocked and angered me so much and proves we haven't come as far as we think we have. I admire her so much for the strength and positivity she has shown after all she has been through.

I felt every emotion possible during this book and was gripped from start to finish.

[Dena Pardi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It always feels a bit odd to assign a rating to someone's life experience. I am giving this four stars, though based on the author's experience, it's not a joyous four stars. Maureen's life was filled with horrific experiences and emotional upheaval and torture, but in the end she found the strength and courage to share her story. By doing so, she's shedding light and revealing the dark truth on what was a horrendous abuse of power, disgusting misogyny and the maligned control and power of the Catholic church.

The first half of the book surrounds Maureen's childhood (if you can really call it that) and what she endured and what ultimately lead to her imprisonment in the Magdalene Laundries. What I wish the second half of the book did more of, was provide more history and information about the Magdalene Laundries. I also wish to have heard more about Maureen's re-entry into life. Whatever happened to her brothers and sisters? Was her father ever punished? Did she ever confront her mother about what she endured? When did the Laundries finally get exposed for what they really were?

Either way, this book was eye-opening, heart breaking, and brave,

[Aoife · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn’t do a month of Irish books without exploring this part of our history. I have read a good bit about this, but like me if you have read or watched Small Things Like These recently you may have thought it was sanitised, lacking or not a true depiction of the reality, this account is the opposite of that, it gives voice to one of the narratives of those girls in New Ross.

Maureen was raped and molested by her stepfather Marty Murphy, when a kind nun in her school asks if anything is wrong, she reveals her secret in the hope she will be able to live with her beloved Granny in Bennekerry, but this is not the case.

She is enslaved, trafficked, used and abused by the Magdalene laundries, repenting for sins that weren’t hers to be forgiven. A stolen pencil case, childhood and education that can never be replaced, restored or reimbursed. Maureen bears her soul in the retelling of her story, one that’s is unfortunately the tale of many, but with a shock ending to her time in laundries. I hope in telling this story and her campaigning on the laundries, the church she finds some healing and peace.

[Devlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good read,,,,, This is not the book I was expecting at all,,,, to be honest with you I was thinking it would be misery described but the way this is written is really very enjoyable and although there are parts of this book that are really really sad,,,, hard to read,,,, its balanced with some of the most lovely stories of Irish life and it really brought me back to my own childhood in Roscommon..... I read it in a day and then today I read parts of it again... It really is a lovely book, which is strange to say considering the concept but I really enjoyed it and recommended it around to everyone I know already.... My sister is also reading,,, I wish Maureen every happiness and I really applaud her for sharing her life in this way...

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking Memories from a Survivor of the Magdalene Laundries

Trigger Warning: This book deals with Child Abuse- physical, mental and sexual.

The memories and survivor story of Maureen who endured years of abuse as a young child at home and then at the hands of the nuns in the institutions (Laundries) she was placed in by the Church after being removed from her home.

This is a painful recounting of Maureen’s experience. It’s her survival story told for her own healing and to bring attention to the deplorable treatment of countless other victims by the Church and their institutions.

I recommend reading this book. A hard emotional but important story told be told.

[Christina MacNeil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

I found this book to be interesting but felt it became repetitive three quarters of the way through . I wish there were more to Maureen’s life when she finally managed to leave -it jumped from being 16-mid 50s will little mention in between.
What happened to Marty , what happened to the Nuns, surely some had survived and could/should be questioned.
What is Maureen’s thoughts on the Catholic Church now. What happened to her own mother and siblings .
As I said I found the book interesting but it left me with more questions than answers.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is hard for me to rate.
It was one of the most difficult books I have ever read. It was tragic! This was a woman's devastating life. I cringe at the mere thought of what that poor child endured. I can't rate her experience by stars. When I give five stars to a book it is usually because I loved it or it was well written. Well, I didn't enjoy this book at all, her life was so infuriatingly unfair! but I have such compassion for Maureen Sullivan that I'm giving her five stars for writing it.

[emilyreadscrime · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is essentially a memoir about the authors childhood experiences growing up in Ireland. We graphically learn the harrowing details of the abuse she suffered at the hands of her step father, but in contrast we are shown the beautiful and gentle relationship she had with her grandmother. After confiding in a trusted adult about the abuse, Maureen is then shockingly shipped off to the magdalene laundries. She exposes the shocking treatment handed out by the nuns. This was a truly shocking read and I loved it.

[Teresa Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a great work of literature but a compelling read none the less... The Catholic church has a lot to answer for in Ireland and elsewhere. It is difficult to understand the cruelty and evil human beings are capable of. And when those same humans profess to be doing God's work it is even more depraved. It's so important that the truth is told by survivors, certainly for their own sake but also to ensure the systems that allowed these events to happen are thoroughly dismantled. Thank you for your bravery Maureen.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was suggested as an additional read after ‘Small Things Like These’. I am embarrassed to say I was not aware of the Magdalene laundries. What an absolute tragedy and what grit by Maureen Sullivan to survive and tell her story and advocate for other survivors. Not only did she suffer terrible abuse at home but then in an effort to hide her abuser’s actions…she had to become a prisoner to the abusive Catholic Church beliefs. How can life be so unfair!!??

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of a little girl in Ireland who was sexually and physically abused as a child by her stepfather and then, after years of abuse, when she told a nun at her school, the Catholic Church took her away from her family and enslaved her in the Magdalen laundries because they were afraid if she went to school she would corrupt the innocence of the other children by telling them what had happened to her. So very sad but an important story to be told.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kudos to Maureen Sullivan for being brave in disclosing all of the abuse she suffered at the hands of the nuns of Irish Laundries. I had just recently become aware of the atrocities that went on in Ireland and that this was not so long ago.
Having Irish roots, I have to ponder if any distant relatives were also victims.
So good to know that there are support groups for the victims.

Thank you again for sharing your story, Maureen and if I could, I would give you a tremendous hug!