Bessborough planning row: Preserve this site - we cannot concrete over Ireland's shameful past

THIS MONTH, PLANNING permission was granted for a 140-bed apartment complex at Bessborough Mother and Baby Home in Cork.

More than 900 babies are thought to have died at this site, with burial records in existence for 64.

This project’s reaching completion would cut off access to answers for those affected by this institution.

A full excavation of human remains has never been conducted. I stand in support of the Bessborough Mother and Baby ‘Home’ Support Group by opposing the building of apartments on this site.

This is a site of conscience that cannot be concreted over.

Ireland’s dark past

It is saddening to see the echoes of Ireland’s conservative past rear its ugly head with this announcement. I myself was born to a single mother at the time in the late eighties. She experienced a huge amount of stigma as a single mother in rural Ireland. I still feel it myself.

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I still think a lot about the injustice that was done to her. I grew up hearing about places like Bessborough and the women who were sent there, through no choice of their own.

At the time, whether a woman decided to keep her baby as a single mother, be sent to a home, or travel to England, she could never make the right choice. It was not accepted by society because of the way we dealt with pregnancy and reproductive rights at the time.

Ireland has a shameful history of allowing institutions tied to the church to control narratives about the women in this country. We now owe it to the women and children incarcerated in Bessborough and in the other locations across Ireland to make sure this is never forgotten. We must treat these sites in accordance with the atrocities that took place at them and complete any necessary investigation.

Where are victims’ rights?

Those incarcerated and born in this institution have suffered enough without seeing history rewritten in this way. I know appeals will be submitted to stand against the development of the land in this way, including by my Labour colleague Cllr Peter Horgan, who has been campaigning on this issue for years.

A powerful protest took place this week outside Leinster House, and a vigil was held at the gates of Bessborough on International Women’s Day. These are fitting tributes to the women who lost their lives and those who were subjected to trauma and degradation as a result of these institutions. Displays of teddy bears and candles were displayed at the gates of Bessborough. This really hammered home to us the need to preserve this space as a place of remembrance and one that the public can access to learn about its history.

The state-sponsored oppression in these institutions is one of the largest injustices committed in the history of the Irish State. Redress is out of the question for many affected by Bessborough who have passed away, but those still here to advocate for themselves and to demand answers deserve the utmost respect.

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Designating the site that contained this ‘home’ to a brand-new project that ignores its harrowing history is unacceptable. We must see other options brought to the table, such as a garden of remembrance and a historic memorial where generations to come can learn about the past.

Do the right thing

Cork has committed to becoming a trauma-informed city. That means recognising that sites like Bessborough are not just parcels of land; they are places connected to trauma, loss and memory.

Any decisions about their future must be approached with care, dignity and respect for survivors. The trauma felt behind the gates of Bessborough is beyond what many of us can comprehend. This is something that must be kept in mind when any of these decisions are tabled.

In terms of housing, we are blue in the face from making recommendations to the Government to change their approach to dereliction and bring the vacant sites in Cork City back into the hands of its residents. We know that within 2km of the City Centre in Cork, there are over 700 vacant and derelict sites. This, coupled with a renewed focus on above-the-shop residences, could alleviate the pressure of the housing emergency and bring life back to Cork City Centre.

We are seeing many great developments progress across the City and County, and I welcome this, but it would be a grave mistake to plough ahead with the current plans for the Bessborough site.

Cork City cannot afford a reality in which such a horrific part of its past is paved over for a large development. Housing is vital, but this is simply the wrong site. We have the opportunity now to treat this site and those impacted by it with the dignity and respect they deserve. 

Labour Senator Laura Harmon is from Cork. She was born to a single mother at the time in rural Ireland in the 1980s. She grew up witnessing the stigma that unmarried mothers were subjected to, against the backdrop of institutions like Bessborough where so many women were sent with no choice of their own.

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