New Books in Public Policy Lorraine Grimes, "Single Mothers in Twentieth-century Ireland and Britain: Pregnancy, Migration and Institutionalization" (Bloomsbury, 2025)
Mar 4, 2026
A deep dive into the journeys of pregnant Irish women who traveled to British cities to escape local shame and seek anonymity. The conversation explores archival detective work, institutional networks across two countries, and how repatriation, adoption laws, and welfare systems shaped lives. It also touches on long-term legacies like DNA discoveries, ongoing activism, and links to contemporary housing and care issues.
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Organized Repatriation Pressured Mothers Home
- British and Irish institutions coordinated a repatriation scheme that effectively deported some Irish single mothers back to Ireland.
- Repatriation ran from the 1930s–1970s and women reported heavy pressure or being misinformed about their right to remain.
Mother And Baby Homes Continued Workhouse Legacy
- Institutionalization in Ireland continued workhouse legacies into mother and baby homes run largely by Catholic religious congregations.
- The Free State asked religious orders to create specialized homes because county homes were unsuitable for single mothers.
Women Chose Shelter Over Religious Matching
- Irish women in Britain did not only enter Catholic homes; they used a range of institutions regardless of religion for practical shelter.
- Women prioritized places that offered a bed and anonymity, sometimes moving between institutions of different denominations.
