Commemoration and a call for Justice for the High Park Women

Wednesday 11 September 2024 marks the 31st Anniversary of the reinterment of 154 Magdalen Women from the former High Park Magdalen Laundry in Dublin. 

The women were reinterred in Glasnevin Cemetery on Saturday 11 September 1993, following their exhumation and subsequent cremation, from the St Mary’s Graveyard within the former Laundry’s grounds.

Many questions were raised by the initial exhumation licence applications and the subsequent difficulties of identifying the women along with questions over their final places of rest. Difficulties persist in achieving answers as to the lives of the women from both Church & State. Families are still waiting for key questions to be answered 31 years later. They have been rendered invisible.

In 2023, Frank Brehany created and published a short commemorative film to recall the 30^th anniversary of the women’s reinterment. The film outlines the background to the women’s lives in High Park, along with examples of their handiwork in the Laundry. A list of all the names of the women is contained within the film. One of the women on that list is Frank’s Grandmother. The film remembers and commemorates the High Park women who are said to be resting in Glasnevin, but it also calls upon viewers of the film to remember those who managed to escape or leave the Magdalen Laundry system in Ireland. The film is re-issued to mark the 31^st anniversary.

The short Commemoration film can be found here. 

Also in 2023, Frank attended and spoke at a dedication ceremony on the site of the former St Mary’s Graveyard in High Park, commemorating the women's memory and the artwork of remembrance for the 155 women who were exhumed. This film is also re-issued on the 31^st anniversary of their exhumation, cremation and reinterment: 

This year Frank has continued in his quest to have the High Park women recognised, and indeed all those excluded by a State Apology and Redress. With that goal, Frank has drafted an ‘in memoriam’ Bill and has presented and met members of the Oireachtas, seeking their support to bring recognition of the women’s experiences and to ensure that the Nation should once again know their names.

Frank states:

“I have recently visited the High Park women’s graves in Glasnevin, not only to pay my respects, but outside of its walls, to press for transparency and answers following key decisions that were made in 1993. My family and indeed other families, and I would suggest Irish Society as a whole, look forward to the day when information, clarity and transparency will be provided by both Church and State. In the meantime it is right and appropriate that these invisible women are remembered in what is a deeply solemn anniversary until the day of truth arrives. The cry for their justice must be heard”. 

About Frank Brehany:

Frank is a long-established Travel Consumer Activist and Media Contributor. He is both a retired police officer and Solicitor

He is the Son and Grandson of:

Francis Brehany - His Father spent the first 5 years of his life in the Tuam Mother and Baby Home (1930) & thereafter Boarded Out & Hired Out until 20 years of age.

Mary Breheny - His Grandmother spent time in the Loughrea County Home (1930), gave birth in the Galway Central Hospital where she spent the first 10 days of her child’s life with him, thereafter, they were both sent to the Tuam Mother and Baby Home and thereafter, Mary was sent to the High Park Magdalen Laundry in Dublin, having endured her incarceration for over 42 years, until her death.