IRELAND
Irish Times
Ronan McGreevy
Philomena Lee has described revelations about the Tuam mother and babies as “absolutely appalling”.
Ms Lee gave birth in Sean Ross Abbey, Co Tipperary to a child who would go on to become a senior legal counsel to two American presidents.
Her son Michael Hess, who she was forced to give up for adoption in 1952, died from AIDS in 1995. He would have been 65 this year if he had lived.
He visited Sean Ross many times looking for his birth mother, but the nuns there, who knew where Ms Lee lived, refused to connect mother and son.
Her story was turned in the critically acclaimed film, Philomena, released in 2013. Judi Dench, who played her, received an Oscar nomination for the role.
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