NORTHERN IRELAND
Irish Times
Kathryn Torney
A warning about the level of infant mortality among illegitimate children in Northern Ireland was sounded in 1945.
The warning on the Church of Ireland home is included in the files on the North’s mother-and-baby homes that are available to view at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (Proni).
Other files have been retained by religious orders.
In a letter to the North’s ministry of finance in 1945, Major David Anderson, the chairman of the committee of Hopedene Hostel for unmarried mothers and their children, raised concern about “the heavy mortality figures among illegitimate children” and ‘illegitimate children are allowed to die’.
He also asked for “sympathetic attention” to be given to his request for financial assistance for the home.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.