Inside the Magdalene Laundries

Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society

History Hit

Society, Sex, Scandal, Education, History

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 14 February 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Societies all throughout history have tried to control female sexuality.

Ireland's Magdalene Laundries and Mother and Baby Homes are two examples of this, where women were imprisoned against their will.

As you'll hear, it's a history that dates back to the 18th century and is still unfolding today.

Joining Kate to take us inside the Magdalene Laundries and the Mother and Baby Homes are two special guests:

Natalie Hughes-Crean is a Specialist Case Worker at Frea Renewing Roots, a charity based in the north of England to help women and families affected by Mother and Baby Homes.

Katherine O'Donnell, campaigner and co-author of Ireland and the Magdalene Laundries, A Campaign for Justice.

How was this imprisonment and mistreatment of women allowed to go on for so long? How complicit were the state? And what are some of the incredible stories of the women whose lives these institutions ruined?

This episode was edited and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

You can take part in our listener survey here.

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hi, I'm your host, Kate Lister.
0:02.4	If you would like betwixt the sheets, add free and get early access, sign up to History Hit.
0:08.7	With a History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of original documentaries with top history presenters.
0:16.0	And enjoy a new release every single week.
0:19.8	Sign up now by visiting history hit.com forward slash subscribe.
0:24.6	Hello, my lovely betwixters.
0:26.5	It's me, Kate Lister, and you are listening to Betwicks the sheets.
0:30.7	Now, now, I know I usually mess about giving everybody the fair do's warning.
0:36.6	I give it when I don't even really have to,
0:38.8	but for this episode, I am actually going to give you a proper content warning because we are
0:45.6	looking at the history of the mother and baby homes and the magdalen laundries in Ireland.
0:51.3	This is very recent history, it's living history, and it's brutal history. So this is a
0:57.3	very serious content warning that we are going to be covering child abuse, sexual violence,
1:02.1	and infanticide. And you might just not want to listen to that today. So this is your chance
1:06.6	to duck out now. Go back, listen to something else, and we will catch you next time.
1:13.8	What are you going to for in a man?
1:15.4	Oh, money, of course.
1:17.0	You're supposed to rise when an adult speaks to you.
1:19.3	I make perfect copies of whatever my boss needs by just turning a knob and pushing the button.
1:25.6	No!
1:25.8	No! ERA! Now! enough and pushing the fun. Yes,
1:27.9	the right!
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from History Hit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of History Hit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.