Pelletstown was later certified for 149 mothers and 560 cots. It was common in all the homes to have more cots than beds for mothers so that the homes could accept unaccompanied illegitimate babies from all other sources, such as home births or women presenting in labour to public hospitals. Pelletstown was very large compared to the later homes and its boarding-out system struggled to find enough foster parents willing to take the babies and children. Conveniently, the sisters already had an orphanage and school in Dublin’s North William Street since the 1860s. They opened St. Philomena’s in Stillorgan, Co. Dublin, in 1933 (in the grounds of the present St. Raphaela’s School) for the sole purpose of keeping children between the ages of 3 and 4, and up to 8 years of age. According to the LGR, it was ‘certified in pursuance of the Pauper Children (Ireland) Act 1889, for the reception of boys and girls who may be eligible to be sent to certified schools’. In this case ‘certified school’ means industrial school. St. Philomena’s was exclusively for children too old for the nursery wards in Pelletstown but too young for the industrial schools. Philomena’s was later split when the boys were transferred to another auxiliary orphanage the nuns founded, St. Theresa’s, in nearby Blackrock. The strict division of the genders varied back and forth over the years as numbers and needs dictated. St. Theresa’s and St. Philomena’s were also used occasionally to hold ‘the better class’ of children between foster placements. When the children reached the age of 7 or 8, girls were normally transferred to Lakelands industrial school at Gilford Road, Sandymount, Dublin 4, while the boys were sent to the Artane industrial school on Dublin’s northside. There are also records of children going to other institutions around the country, such as Tralee industrial school in Kerry.
There is strong anecdotal evidence to suggest that, at some point, mixed-race babies from around the country were routinely transferred to Pelletstown and possibly kept in a segregated ward. The ‘coloured’ babies, as they were called, were held until they were old enough to be transferred to St. Philomena’s or St. Theresa’s and it was extremely rare for them to be adopted. Casual racism and sectarianism were commonplace in the homes; mixed-race babies and children were subjected to additional beatings, racist verbal abuse and shaming throughout their time in State ‘care’. They almost universally ended up in the industrial schools, whose survivors still bear the scars of their shameful treatment. Most of these survivors left Ireland as soon as they were freed from the system and, over the last few years, have organised themselves into the ‘Association of Mixed Race Irish’ founded by activist Rosemary Adaser. They have become a powerful campaigning group with several members bravely speaking out about their personal stories. Pelletstown features in practically every story.
By far the best evidence relating to conditions in the homes from the 1920s and 1930s are the records of ‘infant mortality rates’. Before looking in detail at the available records from Pelletstown, it is important to understand exactly how ‘infant mortality rates’ (IMR) work and how to interpret them. Sadly, it is necessary to go into detail about this tragic, and often taboo, subject.
Mortality Rates
The term ‘infant mortality rate’ is used by countless commentators who may have different understandings of its proper definition and usage. The IMR is correctly defined as the percentage figure of the number of babies who were born alive but did not survive until their first birthday. The number of babies who survived their first year is compared to those who did not survive in any given area or institution. It is expressed in two ways: as a percentage figure or as a total number of deaths out of 1,000. The percentage version will be used in this book.
It is imperative to have a basic grasp of the overall IMR in Ireland since 1922 to fully understand the figures given for infant deaths throughout the rest of this book. In 1900, the IMR in Ireland was 9.9%. In other words, one in every ten babies born alive did not live to see his or her first birthday. This figure includes both legitimate and illegitimate babies. The IMR has dropped steadily around the world due to the availability of modern medicine.
Throughout the 1920s, the national IMR was roughly around 6% and 7%, year on year, and the figures include all babies, whether born to married or single mothers. The IMR in Ireland improved with every passing decade. By 1950 the rate was down to 4.7%, and medical science and upgraded hospitals have slowly brought the rate down to its present 0.033%, making Ireland one of the safest countries in which to give birth today. This is the baseline set of figures since 1922, against which all infant mortality rates from Mother and Baby Home must be compared.
However, when we look more closely at the 1920s and separate the legitimate and illegitimate mortality rates, a completely different picture emerges. Here are some of the national figures for Ireland – after 1922 – which speak for themselves:
| Year | Infant mortality rate* | Illegitimate infant mortality rate |
| 1923 | 6.6% | 34.4% |
| 1924 | 7.2% | 31.5% |
| 1925 | 6.8% | 28.7% |
| 1926 | 7.4% | 32.3% |
| 1927 | 7.1% | 28.8% |
| 1928 | 6.8% | 30.7% |
| 1929 | 7.0% | 29.5% |
| 1930 | 6.8% | 25.1% |
| * The national IMR includes legitimate and illegitimate babies and would be lower if the births and deaths of illegitimate babies were removed. |
The national statistics show that in Ireland after 1922, illegitimate babies were dying at four and five times the rate of legitimate babies throughout the 1920s. Many of the illegitimate babies were born and died in the five Mother and Baby Homes, including Pelletstown/St. Patrick’s (1900), Bethany (1921), Kilrush (1922), Bessboro (1924) and Tuam (1926). (Opening years in brackets).
Below is an extract taken from the LGR of 1930/31. This report, documenting the discrepancy between mortality rates of legitimate and illegitimate babies in Ireland, was available to the public and media of the time.
Mortality of Illegitimate Children
The decline noted in the year 1930 in the death rate of infants generally was reflected to an enhanced degree in the corresponding rate for children born out of wedlock, the figure being 251 per 1,000 births in comparison with 295 for 1929, a decrease of 15%, and the lowest rate recorded by the Registrar-General since such mortality was classified separately in 1923. The margin for improvement regarding the mortality incidence in this class is, however, greater than in the case of legitimate children, seeing that even with this more favourable record one out of every four illegitimate infants died during 1930 in the first year of life, or in other terms, their mortality rate was more than four times greater than that of the children of married parents. The death-rate of illegitimate children in the Saorstát [Independent Ireland] is markedly more than the corresponding rates of the same year in Northern Ireland (140 per 1,000 births) and in England and Wales (105 per 1,000 births). There was an increase of ten in the number of illegitimate births in this country in 1930 as compared with the preceding year and a reduction of 79 in the number of deaths of such infants.
The comparison with Britain’s figures for the same time is illuminating. In 1930, Ireland’s illegitimate babies were dying at the rate of 25.1%, while just across the border in Northern Ireland the rate was 14%. In England and Wales, it was down to 10.5% and falling. The civil servants and religious who were actively involved with single mothers and their babies were also undoubtedly aware that Britain was closing its large institutions in favour of smaller, more compassionate orphanages and foster homes. This had already resulted in lower mortality rates and an increase in social skills and training for the young adults leaving the homes. The mortality rates in Ireland’s Mother and Baby Homes were higher than the national mortality rate for illegitimate babies and remained very high until the late 1940s. Despite the good intentions and best efforts of certain civil servants, Catholic and Protestant, and some caring politicians, the system