Advertisement

Readers like you keep news free for everyone.

More than 5,000 readers have already pitched in to keep free access to The Journal.

For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can help keep paywalls away.

Support us today
Not now
Saturday 25 March 2023 Dublin: 12°C

# state files

All time
# state files
Mother and baby homes believed to give Irish women 'every chance of keeping their secret'
A report into ‘destitute Irish girls’ investigated the problem of unmarried pregnant women travelling to England.
# 1984 State Papers
Government was worried about hiking up tax on booze in 1984 because we were so broke...
… but they did it anyway.
# An Post
Taoiseach's office had to confirm that 'Éire' would NOT be removed from Irish stamps in 1982
Questions were asked whether An Post should be given an “entirely free hand” in the designing of stamps.
# we have what you need
Ireland wanted to sell water to Saudi Arabia for $5 a barrel in the 1980s
There was one problem… Japan also wanted to.
# Investigation
Number of maternity homes a difficulty for mother and baby inquiry
The Commission have been asked to include a wide range of institutions within their scope of their inquiry.
# state files
This 1940s letter describes the 'decent class' of unmarried mothers who were 'first offenders'
The letter details how one hospital was struggling to find foster mothers for children.
# mother and baby home
Death rate of babies at Tuam mother and baby home was double the rate of other homes
The returns from local authorities, disqualifying Dublin, shows that 17% of babies under the age of one died in registered maternity homes that year.
# state files
Here's a list of maternity homes in Ireland in 1947
Under the Maternity Homes Act 1934 every local authority in Ireland had to register the maternity homes in the county with the Department of Health.
# Children
Department of Health says it will return state files to National Archive
The records are there for anybody who wants to view them – unless there are personal details involved.
# Inquiry
State files removed from National Archive following mother and baby home revelations
Over 40 other state documents recalled by the Department of Health have yet to be returned.