Cork singer Camille O'Sullivan to perform at annual Bessborough commemoration

Cork singer and actor Camille O’Sullivan is to perform at this year’s annual Bessborough commemoration, which takes place on Sunday at the former mother and baby institution.

Each summer for the past two decades, survivors and their families have gathered at Bessborough to remember, and gather strength in shared testimony.

Ms O’Sullivan said she hoped the event would be of benefit to survivors.

“I think it would be really helpful if they felt people were reaching out and saying: ‘We hear your story,’” she said.

Ms O’Sullivan said she had first become interested in the plight of survivors of mother and baby institutions through her friend Noelle Brown, a writer and actor who was born in Bessborough and now serves as a Dublin city councillor for the Social Democrats.

Very important thing to do

“I’ve known Noelle since I was a child, and she was one of the reasons I got up on stage and started acting.

“It was only a few years ago that I heard her story, and last year we worked on a show together,” she said.

“I was learning as I went and I was shocked at the way in which survivors are still being treated, and I just think to shine a light on it is a very important thing to do.” 

Between 1922 and 1998, the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary ran Bessborough as a mother and baby institution and in its 76 years as a mother and baby institution, 9,768 mothers and 8,938 babies were admitted there.

In 2021, the Mother and Baby Homes Commission reported 923 child deaths relating to Bessborough.

With burial records existing for only 64 of those children, the commission concluded it was “highly likely” that some were buried on the grounds of the institution.

In February, Cork City Council granted permission for the building of 140 apartments on the site, a decision that is currently being appealed to An Coimisiún Pleanála, with a decision due on July 9.

The annual commemoration will take place at the Bessborough folly at 2pm this Sunday, June 28. 

Organisers have asked that those attending bring with them a flower in remembrance of all of those who died at Bessborough.