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New Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin speaks on Bethany Home dublin |
rights, freedoms and repression |
news report
 Thursday February 03, 2011 17:13 by Bethany Survivors - Bethany Survivors Group
 Home where hundreds died and suffered neglect See previous stories on this issue: In 1945, Archbishop Jackson’s predecessor, Dr Barton, recommended Bethany as a place of detention to then Minister for Justice, Gerald Boland. As well as unmarried mothers and their children, Bethany was also a place of detention for women convicted of infanticide, Prostitution and petty theft. Pregnancy out of wedlock (as well as the children born in that state) was considered ‘illegitimate’ at that time. The Bethany Home had a Protestant evangelical ethos, one in which Church of Ireland clergy played a prominent part, on its managing Committee and in referring women to the home. ”It is well recognised that illegitimate children are delicate” The adviser, William Sterling Berry, then forced the home to stop admitting Roman Catholic women and children it was accused of attempting to proselytise – on the basis that that would make the controversy go away. He wanted a level sectarian playing field, under which are buried dead children in unmarked graves. The former Bethany residents are demanding access to the Irish state’s redress scheme, from which they are excluded. Another related group also excluded are the residents of Magdalene laundries. See website of Bethany pioneer Derek Leinster: http://www.derekleinster.com/ Also Justice for Magdalenes http://www.magdalenelaundries.com Further reading: Church and State and the Bethany Home – download PDF at http://gcd.academia.edu/NiallMeehan/Papers/277737/Churc..._Home “Protestants… were left as orphans” – download PDF at http://gcd.academia.edu/NiallMeehan/Papers/315286/_Prot...hans_
Archbisop Dublin interview with Joe Little RTE Morning Ireland 3 Feb 2010  Archbisop Dublin interview with Joe Little RTE Morning Ireland 3 Feb 2010
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Comments (4 of 4)
Jump To Comment: 4 3 2 1Wrong church there mate, howsoever called.
For decades if not centuries, the so called 'church' has raped and pillaged society through the mechanisms of fearful obedience and illegitimate finance.
Sadly it will continue to do so as long as there are those blinded enough to continue believing in the 'church'.
RTE (10 September 2010) and Newstalk (13 September 2010) audio of discover of 219 unmarked Bethany graves - 10 September
RTE Morning Ireland interview with Niall Meehan on discovery of 219 unmarked Bethany Home graves - with Aine Lawlor, 10 September 2010
Newstalk Lunchtime news interview with Niall Meehan on Bethany Resident's demand for access to redress scheme - with Damien Kilberd, 13 September 2010
RTE Morning Ireland interview with Niall Meehan on discovery of 219 unmarked Bethany Home graves, 10 September 2010
Newtalk Lunchtime news interview wih Niall Meehan on Bethany Resident's demand for access to redress scheme, 13 September 2010
Statement on Bethany Home, Rathgar, from previous Archbishop of Dublin, Rev'd John Neill
Press Release 15th Sept 2010
It is a matter of grave concern and deep pain that in the first half of the last century Bethany Home, which was operated by an independent charity with a Protestant ethos, should have been inadequate to its task. As Archbishop of Dublin, I lament the fact that women and children suffered through the reported failures of the charity. My paramount concern is a pastoral one for those women and children who suffered through physical neglect or abuse of any kind. Whilst recognising the apparent poverty of the Bethany Home, the allegations of a lack of human kindness and compassion are deeply disturbing. As the largest church within the wider Protestant community, we recognise that many residents of the home would have been Church of Ireland members and that the Church of Ireland community engaged in public fundraising for the home. Furthermore, I acknowledge that some clergy and laity were involved in a personal capacity in the management of the Bethany Home. I am deeply concerned at the information revealed by recent research and the Church of Ireland has repeatedly petitioned the State to have the home brought under the remit of the Residential Institutions Redress Board.
+John, Dublin & Glendalough
For further information please contact:
Church of Ireland Press Office
Church of Ireland House
61-67 Donegall Street
Belfast BT1 2QH
Tel: (028) 9023 2909
Fax (028) 9032 3554
Paul Harron: (duty phone) +44 (0)7787 881582
Janet Maxwell: (duty phone) +353 (0) 87 948 4412
E-mail: press@ireland.anglican.org