Bessborough survivors welcome Cork screening of film on institutional abuse
Noelle Brown, a Social Democrats Dublin city councillor, speaking at Bessborough in April. She was born there in the 1960s, and is featured in the documentary. Picture: Noel Sweeney.
Survivors of the former Bessborough mother and baby institution have welcomed a planned Cork screening of a film examining the legacy of Ireland’s institutional abuse.
The 2023 documentary, Stolen, which was directed by Derry filmmaker Margo Harkin, gathers survivor testimony and looks at the abuse inflicted upon women and children in Ireland’s institutions.
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The Cork screening of Stolen comes follows a public outcry sparked by the decision last month by An Coimisiún Pleanála to uphold planning permission for 106 apartments on the former Bessborough estate.
Between 1922 and 1998, the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary ran Bessborough as Ireland’s largest mother and baby institution.
With burial records for 859 children and 19 women missing from Bessborough, the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes in 2021 found it was “highly likely” some had been buried on the institution’s grounds.
Last month, Taoiseach Micheál Martin told he had asked Cork City Council to engage with the owners of the lands to “explore all options for the future of the site”.
People Before Profit has organised a Cork screening for Stolen next month, which will be followed by a panel discussion and Q&A.
Noelle Brown, a Social Democrats Dublin city councillor born in Bessborough in the 1960s, is featured in the documentary.
she said.
Richard Boyd Barrett, People Before Profit TD for Dún Laoghaire, who was born in the Highgate mother and baby institution in north London, will also attend the screening.
“As someone who was born in mother and baby home, I feel strongly obliged to speak out for the victims of the terrible wrong that was done to so many in Bessborough,” he said.
“The idea that this site could be used to make profit for some developer is really shameful.”
Stolen will be screened at the Arc Cinema at 7pm on Wednesday, September 2. Admission is free but booking through Eventbrite is essential.
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