Old Blogs

The Irish killing fields-Septic story or septic memories?

Stupidly, I was shocked at the recent turmoil about the discovery of septic tanks full of babies bones, at the various long closed mother and child “care” homes, that once dotted the country. Was it a stretched story made for the viral internet , or a genuine account of a gladly extinct period of Irish history?

It has been a well visited topic, over the last two decades. The poor scandal ridden unmarried mothers, contending with the wicked condescension and brutality of the nuns, in a very closed and backward Ireland.

All this seemed to be an echo of a country, that I am glad has faded away. How many films and books has this topic spawned?

Did this story need some extra spectacle, to engage the interest of a country anaesthetised by two decades of church led horror stories?

Just where did they think all these babies go? Did people really think they were all adopted?

Unfortunately happy ever afters rarely happen.Someone said to me yesterday, that even the Cambodians did not exclusively target babies.

That seemed a little dramatic. Does the fact that they were all young infants, not rule out a famine connection?

In articles published from Al Jazeera to the Los Angeles Times, the outpouring of anti church sentiment seems frankly useless at this stage. Rather like flogging a dead horse! They were the bad ol’ days, after all surely?.

But surely its possible to right some wrongs of the past. To posthumously confer dignity, on lives that were considered lacking.

For me, this is an example of what happens when you sweep things under the carpet. Sadly for the religious orders, and representatives of the government, that abandoned all these children  to their “carer’s”. Bones have an irritating habit, of not disintegrating as fast as some people’ selective memories!

As someone who ignorantly believed that our country has changed so much, I still firmly understand that there are many mental septic tanks across the country, containing ugly memories, which badly need to be lanced and exposed.

News article used for this post:

https://newrepublic.com/article/118316/800-irish-babies-buried-septic-tank-was-partly-bogus-story

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