Leanne McCormick

Sinister Sisters ?: the Portrayal of Magdalene Asylums in Ireland in Popular Culture

Balanced historical accounts, based on relevant source material and evidence, do not, in the main, make good films. Even-handed scripts do not stir producers and directors into making films, and audiences are not moved by the presentation of a variety of situations and outcomes. On the other hand, incarceration of the innocent, abusive captors and sexual degradation, followed by a turning of the tables and eventual escape by those unfairly imprisoned, provide the formula for a successful screenplay. Add the Catholic Church as the abuser and young women as the abused, set it in Ireland and you have the Magdalene Sisters, a film by Peter Mullan (2003). This film, and the television documentaries that preceded it, have come to represent the true picture of life inside Magdalene Laundries.1 To offer any alternative position has come to be seen as condoning the brutalities of the institutions and, moreover, supporting the abuse of power by the Catholic Church. Consequently, the fiction of a motion picture has become the accepted historical reality. This is not to suggest that Magdalene Asylums and Laundries were pleasant places, and undoubtedly many women were treated badly in these institutions. The testimonies of those who spent time in these institutions are not being questioned. However, the story of these institutions is wider than the image and narrative generated by the Magdalene Sisters, and it may be argued that films such as this have a damaging effect on the research of academic historians of the subject. From the middle of the nineteenth century, throughout Britain and Ireland, there existed a variety of institutions established initially for the Cultural and Social History 2005; 2: 373–379

The Dangers and Temptations of the Street: Managing female behaviour in Belfast during First World War

ABSTRACT Concerns about the ‘modern girl’ have a long tradition, and the changes and disruption brought about by the First World War exacerbated these anxieties. Particular fears were generated about young working-class women in public spaces and an associated decline in moral standards. This article focuses on the city of Belfast and places these concerns expressed about female behaviour during the First World War in a pre-war context. It suggests that the particular circumstances of pre-war Belfast, which included high female employment and rapid industrialisation, had led to growing concerns about young womens behaviour from the late nineteenth century. There had been considerable philanthropic engagement to try to ensure that these women were offered alternative ‘suitable’ entertainments as opposed to the corrupting influences of the streets. The experience of managing female behaviour in Belfast during the First World War was, therefore, more of continuity rather than change, with ideas of rescue and reform dominating. The article seeks to place Belfast within a comparative context to offer an important regional study, illustrating how unique social, political and religious circumstances influenced the attempts to manage and control female behaviour.

Venereal Disease in Interwar Northern Ireland

The first comprehensive attempt to discover the prevalence of venereal diseases (VD) in the United Kingdom took the form of a Royal Commission on Venereal Disease (RCVD), which was established in 1913 and made its report in 1916. The final report of the RCVD recommended that centres should be set up for the treatment of VD, with 75 per cent of the cost to be met by central government and the remainder from local rates.1 The establishment of clinics relied on cooperation between local authorities and voluntary hospitals, but this was to prove a problematic relationship in Northern Ireland,2 as it had done in other parts of the United Kingdom.3 The situation in Northern Ireland, however, was exacerbated due to the complex political situation, particularly the establishment of the new state of Northern Ireland. The 1920 Government of Ireland Act partitioned Ireland and set up two governments and two parliaments, one for the six counties that were to form Northern Ireland and another for the 26 southern counties that became the Irish Free State. The Anglo-Irish treaty, which was signed in December 1921, brought to an end the three-year conflict between the British forces and those fighting for independence. The treaty gave Ireland the status of a dominion within the British Commonwealth and established the Irish Free State. Northern Ireland was permitted to opt out of the agreement and retain its status granted in 1920, to remain part of the United Kingdom.