IRELAND
NPR

by Philip Reeves

February 06, 2013

Ireland has expressed regret that thousands of women and young girls held in workhouses run by Catholic nuns were stigmatized by the label “fallen women.” But Prime Minister Enda Kenny did not apologize for the state’s involvement in decades of harsh treatment for women held in 10 Magdalene Laundries. He was reacting to a report that concluded the government oversaw the workhouses.