Institutional Abuse
By Diana Rusk
Irish News
03/11/09
CHILDHOOD MEMORIES: Above, the children of Nazareth Lodge including Deirdre (circled).
FOR most of her life, 54-year-old Deirdre Harper has been petrified of water. She says the fear stems from an incident during her childhood when her head was repeatedly forced under water after she took a bath at the wrong time.
Other memories of those days include the time her face was pushed into urine-soaked sheets to punish her for wetting the bed.
Then there are the countless beatings she endured from a leather strap that hung near a string of Rosary beads and the times she was pulled up flights of stairs by her hair.
Deirdre was one of hundreds of disadvantaged children taken into the care of the religious order, the Sisters of Nazareth, and placed into Nazareth House in south Belfast.
Behind the red-bricked walls of the Ormeau Road building, some of the sisters charged with caring for the children are instead alleged to have subjected them to physical violence and mental abuse.
Decades later, nine former residents have made claims for compensation against the religious order.
The Sisters of Nazareth have already settled two claims while the remaining seven are being pursued through solicitors.
Deirdre is one of two other former residents who have instead dealt directly with the order to try to get some closure.
She also wants her story heard.
“A public apology from the Sisters of Nazareth and the Catholic Church would be a start,” the mother-of-two said.
“The abuse that went on in Nazareth House was horrendous.”
Deirdre, then O’Donoghue, was born in Limerick but moved to Belfast shortly after her air-traffic controller father developed an addiction to alcohol and lost his job.
She and her two elder sisters were removed from her family home by the NSPCC in 1959 and dispatched into the care of the Sisters of Nazareth.
“I was four years old and taken to the nursery department while my two older sisters were taken to another department,” she said.
“I could only see them through the iron gates in the yard which separated both departments. I would scream and cry for them to come to me but this was not allowed.
“My time in the nursery wasn’t too bad except for being away from my sisters. There was a nice nun in charge who would give me a cuddle when I was upset. The nightmare began when I left the nursery.”
An early photograph of Deirdre shows her smiling beside the other children in the home as they enjoy playing on a slide during a Christmas party.
In the background, however, she claims the reality was much different and that her childhood memories are filled with emotional terror.
She claims she was punished for wetting the bed, taking a bath at the wrong time and, when she ran away once, she was dragged by the hair up several flights of stairs and locked in a storeroom.
Presents given to her during brief stays with her aunt and uncle were taken away when she returned to Nazareth House and a strap that hung from the nun’s belt was used to beat her and the other children.
At night-time there were checks to ensure all the children slept on their backs with their arms crossed over their bodies – “so that if we died in our sleep we would go to heaven”.
“Saturdays were spent polishing floors. I was down on my knees doing my best to get a good shine on the floor,” she recalled.
“Whichever nun came to inspect my work, if it wasn’t good enough I was grabbed by my hair and swung about.”
Except for the brief outings to Ormeau Park where she “could be a child for a while”, she said she felt like a prisoner in the children’s home.
“The cruelty that went on behind those walls still haunts me now at the age of 54,” she said.
“I was a child who took the beatings and accepted it as the norm as it was all I knew.
“Seeing other children taking a beating was horrendous to watch knowing there was nothing we could do to help each other.”
The Poor Sisters of Nazareth were founded in the mid-19th century in Hammersmith, London, to take care of the young and the old. There were Nazareth Houses all over Britain, Ireland, Australia and South Africa.
The home on the Ormeau Road was opened in 1876 as a home for the children and the elderly. There was also a school on the site but all care for children stopped more than a quarter of a century ago.
Of the nuns that Deirdre claims abused her, two are dead, one is the subject of a civil case from another former resident and the fourth has been described by the order as being in “poor and frail health”.
During meetings with the order, the nuns were unable to give Deirdre any answers to her allegations blaming institutional practices at the time.
She has received an apology of sorts through a letter from Sr Mary Anne Monaghan, the superior-general of Nazareth House.
“I am pained and sorry that the years you spent in the care of Nazareth House have left you with unhappy memories,” it stated.
“I am sorry for anything that you feel was done to you by the Sisters of Nazareth that may have caused you suffering or anguish.
“It is a matter of profound regret to the Sisters and to me that your time with us has left you with those painful memories.
“Unfortunately we cannot change the past. I hope your contact with us over this last while will help ease, insofar as is possible, some of the hurt and distress you feel.
“I also hope that it may help you get on with your life, despite your pain, in a positive and fulfilling way.”
While some of those living in Nazareth House have come forward about their abuse, others are only beginning to gather the courage.
Stella Percival, originally from Randalstown, Co Antrim, only decided to look into her past earlier this year when she got a computer and learned how to use the internet.
She has never spoken to lawyers or sought compensation from the religious order.
The 57-year-old searched the term ‘Nazareth House’ and found a group of survivors of the regime speaking out about their childhoods.
“I was just a baby when my mother left me there. She was an unmarried mother and she later went to England to live,” she said.
“I was there from 1951, the year I was born, until I was 16. Even then I had to work for them for a year when I left school.
“The one thing I remember about the abuse was that I used to wet my bed until I was 13.
“We used to be terrified because we had to line up in the mornings outside the nuns room and we would get an awful beating if you did it.
“So we used to make our beds up and pretend we were dry so at night we would climb back into a soaking wet bed rather than face another beating.”
Like many children, she was frightened of the dark but she claims she was made to stand on a stage with the light switched off.
“I was so afraid because it was pitch black and I would be left there for hours at a time.”
“These experiences have affected my whole life.”
“I would like an apology for the terrible times we had in their care.
“I would not like a face-to-face meeting because I think I would feel too intimidated and would feel sick if I had to meet them after all these years.
“I would like the public to know how we were treated and I also think we should all get compensation.
“I know that people brought up in homes in the south of Ireland have received it and America and Australia so we should be entitled to it too.
“Some people have already got compensation and we were all in there at the same time so why not us?
“I do plan to put in for this myself. It is not greed. They ruined our life. I never went out for years and I was so brainwashed I was afraid of any one in charge. I could never speak up for myself. I was as timid as a mouse.
“One good thing that did come out of all that was that I swore my children would never experience anything like that and I would have died before they ever got taken into care.
“They made my life worth living.”
Sr Patricia Enright, a spokeswoman from the Sisters of Nazareth, said there have been complaints about the care of children at the Ormeau Road institution.
“Since 1995, nine former residents of Nazareth House, Belfast have made a claim for compensation against the Sisters of Nazareth,” she said.
“Two of those cases have been settled by the Sisters of Nazareth.
“The other cases are being handled by the solicitors for the claimants and the Sisters of Nazareth have engaged with them.
“Two other persons have made complaints to the sisters about their treatment in Nazareth House and the sisters have engaged with them also.”
SAOIRSE32 
125 comments
Comments feed for this article
10 November 2009 at 11:07 am
george martin
I would like to know who give Margaret mc Guckin and Deirdre O Donoghue permission to parade this photograph all over the would without asking anyone of the children in the photograph for there permission?????.
2 January 2014 at 9:14 pm
collette b milligan
Be real,who the heck is going to know thats “so & so” except ‘thee themselfs or they said’ “oh thats me” I lived in that conventI for 12 years since I was 3 weeks old then got airlifted to J f k airport from nazareth house on the ormeau rd talk about ” aliens” since i moved to the u.s i have always been considered an outsider nazereth was the only home that i have ever had thank God for it they taught me about faith “and some” my name is collette b milligan I would love to come back to open up which won”t be easy but i have been wanting to get it of my chest over here just don,t cut it Here they would’nt understand i could”nt talk about it in rehab I have a job now for 8 years doin the best i ever have had at last
20 January 2015 at 4:40 pm
Ric
How very sour faced of you
6 May 2016 at 9:33 am
Lisa Richardson
Are you the George Martin from Brisbane?
If so the Richardson’s would like to make contact.
David Richardson
16 November 2009 at 9:40 am
Mary Smith
No one can take away your suffering it was individuals not an order . The Sisters Of Nazareth are the most compassionate women . Many of the Sisters are Samoan but they and other sisters have to wear this , Name names be specific
16 November 2009 at 2:53 pm
Molly Rose
My time in Nazareth House Belfast was a happy one.I was glad of it.
4 December 2009 at 11:39 am
bernadertte quinn
Money – thats all you want-what goes around comes around. Because you made a hash of your lives and haven’t been able to find this happiness that you feel the world owes you, you need someone to blame and who else but the nuns. I didn’t live down south in any of the convents there so I can’t comment but, I did live on the Ormeau Road for 14 years of my life and I look back on those years with great happeness remembering all my friends who were in the same boat at me. Where were you own parents or relatives – why didn’t they take you. I was brought up with you in St Anns group and it seems that most of you were only in Nazareth for a very short time where I lived there until I was 14 – where was the store room?? – I was there from 1961 – where are the witnesses from your own group girls – nothing happened in secret and we all knew each others business.
I am not saying you weren’t hit but you had to do something wrong or be blamed for it in order for the nuns to smack you – the nuns didn’t just run around smacking all day long as some of you would like the public to think – and so what!! a few floors to scrub or polish on your hands and knees – I still today get on my knees to wash the floor. The nuns took me in – I didn’t see any of my relatives holding up their hands saying they would take me – maybe the fact that my mother didn’t regect me for the second time when I found her, helped me get on with my life – I don’t know but what I do know is that I except my history for what it is and I thank God for it today. If I had of been brought up with my real family I would have been abused by my mothers husband as he sexually abused my half sister, his daughterup until she was 17 – and although I don’t agree with the way the nuns may have handled my upbringing and that of friends who were in the same position as myself, the nuns tried their best. There was some very nice nuns and there were others who weren’t so nice – so what!!! It is called differenct personalities – The nuns taught all day – they were there at breakfast time – dinner time (at the week-end) and tea time – when you take away the time they spent in the chapel and then having their own meals together there was very little time left for them to see us – now do you remember!!! they went begging every Saturday round the falls road because they didn’t have enough. and we ate mostly marks and spensers food. ….. and the horror of the dark my dear!!! – a dimmer light was left on every night – who was the nun that left you on the stage, who was the nun who dragged you under water, name names – the hall was the only place where there was a stage and it was constanally locked unless it was used for school or plays, we only got bathed on a Saturday but we were strip washed by ourselves every night and morning. And the Ormeau Road park was the only freedom!!! – We played outside everyday with each other – we also went to the pictures and swimming pool. plus every year we had a Christmas Party. Why don’t you silly girls focus in on the nice things and the good things that happed to you and get on with your lives. Sincerely seek the Lord in prayer and he will help this sickness you have. I am not along in my thoughts – all the girls that I would be in touch with Rosealeen McParland, Helen Davidson, Carol Smith, Kathleen McMullan – they feel no different than I do – If any of you are looking to be put in touch with any of the above email me at marynorney@yahoo.co.uk. Money isn’t everything! Bernadette Quinn/now Mrs norney
15 February 2012 at 6:34 pm
Jeanette Cardinal
Bernadette, do you remember Jeanette thats me, Susan buckley Kathleen moinahan,Eileen Help,The beresford twins and sister Joseph Mary?I have never searched for anybody that was at Nazareth House Hammersmith.but i remember your name Bernadette
21 February 2013 at 11:44 am
Anonymous
Jeanette, Were you Jeanette Osborne? I went to Nazareth house Infants, Hammersmith, London & then went on to Sacred Heart Convent. I remember Susan Buckley & there was a Patricia Murray. I am still in touch with Heather Ross who lived at Nazareth house in |Hammersmith. I came on here looking for someone who had written a book about her life in Nazareth House, Hammersmith
Noreen Bradley
21 December 2012 at 12:48 am
Anonymous
who are you to say that the nuns did not bate the children all the time how would u no. u must of been a lick.now i have been told about u trying to deface the hole happening and saying the nuns were great. i think your full of shit and u shood stay out of peoples busness, mouths like yours nobody needs or wants to hear. its u who shood go and get a life. if u loved the so called nuns so mutch why didnt u join them. and keep your god till your self dont ever force that on enybody. and u can text back but u dont no me but i no you.
13 December 2009 at 5:04 pm
Deirdre
Are you saying I made a hash of my life??? You know nothing so kindly go and fec off.
14 December 2009 at 1:15 am
john podesta
can you tell me who to contact about finding an ancestor that had been put into the home.
Mary Ann Podesta was her name, she died there age 13 in 1901
Thank you John Podesta.
________________
John,
I am not sure if this will help, but here is some contact information I found on the net. If anyone has anything else to add, please do so:
St Miriam Wing Nazareth House
352 Ormeau Road
Belfast BT7 3GL
01232 491466
–micheailin
If this is not helpful, let me know and I will see what else I can find.
saoirse32@fastmail.fm
5 November 2012 at 9:40 pm
Anonymous
I was a ST Joseph’s Baby in 1952 My mother was institutionalised in this place for years I was put up for adoption .my mother had no say whatsoever in this matter she never knew about me .as some mothers were told that thier babies died shortrly after birth . from what I was told ,abuse of young woman was rife my mother probably being one of them.I will never know as she died. Everything was swept under the carpet in those days ,I shudder to imagine what really went on behind closed doors.
13 February 2015 at 10:04 pm
Tomi
I have a bad leg due to st josephs baby home
13 February 2015 at 10:32 pm
Tomi
when my mother came to see me at the beginning they let her for a few moments, she had came to see me a few times then after that the nuns stopped her by saying that I was sleeping but my mum kept comming back but she never got to see me.
15 February 2010 at 5:20 pm
Brnadette Dunn
Having viewed the comments on this link, I feel that people seem to have had a different experiences whilst in the care of Nazareth House,Ormeau Rd.
My experience and that of my sisters, differs considerably, as they are slightly older, and although they had experienced more ‘severe’ abuse than I did to some degree, I cannot deny that there were some very sadistic nuns at Nazareth House.
My sister has suffered total deafness all of her life, since the age of 6, due to an injury she sustained at the hand of Sr Thomas, who banged her head against a tiled bathroom wall, just because she did not wash her neck properly! years and years of hospital visits and operations could not recitify this, as the ear specialist said “the tiny bones in the ear are completely shattered, and therefore inoperable”
This is only one isolated incident that occured at the hands of the nuns, but I have shared this to prove that yes cruelty did occur.
I was in Nazareth between 1960 to 1974, nursury, then firstly to St.Anns group, and later moved to Sacred Heart group.
My own life is a mixture of good and bad treatment, there were nuns that clearly had mental health issues and others, whom I believe were kind and showed great compassion, namely Sr.Rita, who for me personally turned my life around and restored my faith in human kindness at the tender age of 11, I was much more fortunate than my sisters, who both have suffered at the hands of the nuns.
I just want to say, that everyone has their own story, and it is no secret that certain children were ‘targeted’ we all witnessed this if we are being honest. Maybe you were not one of those who were targeted, but great injustice,sadistic and inhumane suffering did take place.
5 November 2012 at 10:05 pm
anomymous belfast
My mother was institutionalised at the most of her young years. she gave me up for adoption in1952 The stories That I discovered about the abuse she suffered was horrendous .She died this year .It just was not nuns but also clergy,BUt things were brushed under the carpet in those days and the Catholic church knew what went on and did nothing. God Bless all the children who suffered at the hands of sadistic people in that place
2 January 2014 at 9:36 pm
collette b milligan
Now I loved sister Rita I got to hand out the milk ring the bell time to go back to class had her in primary 4 Religion only attention I got if I was”nt in trouble sister claud was my nun
19 February 2010 at 12:54 am
Ann Dunn
Bernadette Quinn you query where was the storeroom.you must have a short memory it was located outside our Ladys dormitory Every night for as long as i can remember Sr Francis made an individual kneel outside until she was ready to take them in side and beat them. I was beaten in that store room you did’nt have to do any thing wrong to be at the teceiving end of these beatings.
Sr Francis carried thease beatings out because she could.The children were powerless.
I also witnessed Sr Thomas carry out beatings on the children.
There is good and bad everywhere and every one has their own experiences of Nazareth House.
Injustice and inhumane suffering did take place.
Anyone that has suffered abuse needs acknowledgement to help them move forward to have closeure.
This can only be achieved when the nuns are called into account for their cruelty and abuse towards vulnerable children who did not have voice and were powerless.
8 March 2010 at 9:31 pm
Des Connolly
I was in Nazareth House Southampton from a baby till the age of seven. I loved it. There were a large community of nuns in the Community many were training to be nurses and midwifes. We had daily contact with most of the sisters in the convent. Not one showed us anything but kindness and love. Most of the children that were with me had parents who had abused them or were completely unable to care for their children. The sisters took us in and did their best to create a lovely home. It was not like being in a family home…we know that, but it was still lovely and I thank God I was placed there and not in some Government run institution.
When many of you speak of the nun’s cruelty or sidistic behaviour…they are not the nuns I knew. And most of the sisters I knew were Irish.
It is difficult to look after two or three children as any parent will know and there their own. These sisters were sometimes looking after as many as 150 children per floor and sometimes even more. Many of the children had serious emotional difficulties. I think these sisters did a wonderful job. They had little money to run these homes and they did the best they could.
Of course today things would be different just as the parents of children today are different from those of 40-50 years ago. We can not judge those days by the standards of today. If we did none of us would come out smelling of roses.
10 April 2010 at 6:54 pm
maria benson
i was in st josephs in belfast and they were cruel heartless bastards!!!
13 February 2015 at 10:06 pm
Tomi
yes I fully agree
13 February 2015 at 10:15 pm
Tomi
Maria was this st josephs baby home
10 April 2010 at 6:56 pm
maria benson
complete and utter abuse of vulnerable and innocent children who for the most part wouldnt have suffered this shit at home!!!
11 April 2010 at 3:04 am
molly rose
Sorry to disagree with you Maria .I was a child who lived at home until NEAR the age 5.If i had stayed at my Mother home until the age of 5 i know i would have been DEAD before my sixth Birthday.Nazareth House was a very good place for me and a happy place for me to be in no matter what all the stories our about the Nun’s of Nazareth house our .I was glad of the nun’s .None of the nun’s beat me anyway like my Mother did she was a bad woman.The nun’s give me my life,and the life i now have with my God’s gift of a family.I have alot to be thankful for.But what i always keep in my mined is that ever child has there own story’s to tell.As for myself i could write a book about cruel Mothers,Maria where is st,Josephs in Belfast that you our talken about? the only st, Josephs i know is st,Joseph’s baby home on the Ravenhill Rd Belfast and i have never heard a bad word about this home.Once again i can only thank the Nuns for the life they have given me.
17 November 2013 at 11:57 pm
Teresa Black
In Nazareth House Ravenshill Road Sister Hildeguard and Sister Amadeus were evil nuns. I think you must have been one of the lucky ones.
31 July 2015 at 12:01 am
Christina Laverty
Gosh, to hear the name Sister Amadeus. I was told that I was her “favourite child”, but mercifully, I had a lucky escape being adopted at almost three years of age. I cannot remember a thing except dreadful fear as a small child. But I know I was a lucky girl to get out of there.
14 April 2010 at 9:39 pm
stella percival
I would like to tell molly rose that I have a very happy life I know how I was treated I was beaten all the time any excuse and I would be in for it I must have been unlucky because that is my memorys of nazareth house pure hell and I was a young girl who could do nothing about it then but I live in hope that what goes around comes around
21 April 2010 at 1:46 pm
Deirdre
HI Stella, Hope your ok, Take no notice of the gobshite on here. We know what happened to us and how it affected us. Deirdre
4 May 2010 at 5:21 pm
gerard mcavoy
hi i lived at st joesephs babys home on raven hill rd im 35 now my sisters were also there margaret and bernadette. i only have fond memories of the place holidays in ballyhornin.the only staff member i remember by name is phillis and my best freinds were paul thomas and micheal foster if this rings a bell please feel free to contact me
23 March 2015 at 11:59 am
Anonymous
Hi just wondering what year you were In St.Josephs babies home at..i was there for 5 years im now 32 my Name is Ashline..and i have not really got a bad word to say about the place except for one incident but i think he got the sack as be never came back but im not 100% sure… I know we used to go to chapel in Nazareth house which was direcy beside us but after a few years that stopped and we went to the one up the top of Ravenhill road…always wondered why we moved chapels for…
20 December 2010 at 1:31 pm
Deirdre
It’s great to know we are having an inquiry into Institutional Abuse in N Ireland. I have waited a long time for this day for all of us.
30 January 2011 at 3:41 pm
Marjorie McClary
I was placed in Nazareth House – Nottingam in the early 1950s. I feel that I should go on the record to say that Sister Gabriel McEwan was wonderful, kind and very caring to the “tinies” in her charge. Over the years I kept in touch with her as I had a deep affection for her. I wasn’t happy in Nazareth House, how could be. I was separated from my family and didn’t understand why no -one cared enough to prevent this separation. I appreciate that many children brought up in such institutions were subject to awful abuse but that should not diminish the value of the care and dedication of the many nuns and carers who devoted their lives to looking after unwanted and orphan children.
2 March 2011 at 1:35 pm
rosemary
I was not in nazareth house, but we had a house in ballyhornan and used to play with the kids from the house. We used to play on the beach for hours. I remember one boy in particular his name was gerry rossbottom or rothbotham. Does anyone remember him. Was probably late 60’s early 70’s. He had loads of black curly hair and was quite thin. Anyone know of him.
3 January 2014 at 6:53 pm
Anonymous
no But I had A boy in nazareth house named anthoney Russel he was in sister Teresas group where I wonder is he today i would like to have a word with him he probaly dose”nt remenberme and also a kid named tommy the only 2 boys in the school I anthoney if u get this my email is moxiedoggs@hotmail.com collette
11 March 2011 at 1:55 am
john podesta
my grandfathers sister Mary Ann Podesta was sent to Nazareth house and died there. I am still trying to find her mother Mary who I believe died about 1891 in Southampton or did she divorce.
John
7 April 2011 at 5:41 pm
susan ellis
I would like to hear from anyone who knows anything about Nazareth House 31-67 Hill St, Southampton. I had 3 relatives there in the early 1930s who were shipped to Australia in the late 1930s. Can anyone help me please?
25 November 2013 at 9:10 am
Bernard Green
Hi
I was in Nazareth House Southampton, approximately from 1938 to 1945, and am bewildered by some of the contents of of others who resided in these homes. Would you like to make contact for a chat
from Bernard
1 June 2011 at 2:21 am
Ann Free Spirit
I was in two catholic church orphanages in Christchurch New Zealand, St. Joseph Girls Orphanages = Mount Magdala run by the Good Shepherd order of nuns. Nazareth House, run by The Poor Sisters of Nazareth. 24years of abuse and sexual abuse and my God the lies they told us then, they are still telling now to the world. they knew what they were doing to us was wrong. We Will Be Silence No More… We Will Not Go Away… Break the Silence… A child who could not do anything, unless she was punished before hand.
I hear the same old excuses said time and again ‘we didn’t know’; ‘we didn’t understand’; ‘we did everything we could’; I have written a book about what these nuns did to me and to five other women and how they tried to still cover up a young girl who was RAPED by a priest, after the nuns called her away and sent her to this priest, whom she had a baby nine months later and the baby (Peter) was taken from her and she was sent to Mount Madgeala for 5years, to earn her keep there. She never saw Peter again until years later. Ann Thompson
2 June 2011 at 2:38 am
molly-rose louise.
Would like to know who betrayed all the little children in this photo!!as most of the little children our under the age of 12. Was it Mc GU R was it O’RI.R O’DO.Wee all know who these’s 3 girl’s r.But most of all wee all know that they were ALL Part Timer’s.They were the lucky one’s as they had conceation with there family’s. And they where only in Nazareth House four a short time. Please sit back MC g O’R & O’D let the older children speak of there time’s THEY ARE THE ONE’S THAT SUFFERERD.U 3 r the same age as myself PLEASE let the older girl’s talk.We only got the tael end of the hardship all the girl’s injured all of there life’s. MY B if u 3 had been in nazareth house belfast long enough u would have seen alot of change’s belive it r not it did b come more relaxed and a good place to b in.But there again u 3 were not there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
7 June 2011 at 8:06 pm
deirdre
Here we go again Molly Rose, what’s your problem. 8 years in that hellhole. If you weren’t abused in there then you are one lucky person. I’m not interested in what happened after I left that horrible place with it’s cruel regime.I have every right to speak up about being abused in that place and I will continue to do so till justice is done for all who want justice. Justice Will Prevail
20 April 2015 at 7:42 pm
Christine Lindsay
I was severely abused in nazerath house cardiff very much the same tortures as you so molly rose no doubt is brainwashed my names christine lindsay i spent 13 years there it will haunt me to my grave
1 May 2016 at 12:12 pm
cecilia lang
Did you know Anita Sadler at Naz. House Cardiff
8 June 2011 at 12:20 pm
molly-rose louise.
Funny how i remenber u.U were a very shy girl,very well mannered & well behaved.So i’m sure u can understand why im having difficulty understanding how u were so abuse!!!.i do remenber the older girl’s having a much harder time than us younger 1’s. Did u not tell some of the girl’s at 1 point that u blamed the Nun’s 4 what happened 2 u when u left N-House Belfast at the age of 12.I understand & sympathize with with u for what happend 2 u.What i don’t understand is why u blame the Nun’s of N-House Belfast 4 something they would not have had any control over when u went home with ur mother.What happend outside of N-House Belfast 2 me seems 2 b a family matter!.And like u Deirdre i hope all the OLDER children that sufferd will get justice.
8 June 2011 at 5:35 pm
deirdre
Molly Rose or whatever your name is, You must have seen something you didn’t like on the news earlier this week thats got you going again. You appear to be a very nosey bitch and get your facts right, I was not 12 when I left that shit hole , what has it got to do with you anyway, one thing you dont seem to understand is that it made no difference if you were shy, quiet or whatever to get a beating. With me being a shy, timid child I must have been an easy target for those nuns to do what they did to me. You don’t know the full story as to how I was almost drowned in the bath and other things they did to me. You should keep you nose out of my buissness. I see you never use your real name and don’t you dare associate me with O’RI as you call her.
12 June 2011 at 1:31 pm
Ann Free Spirit
The nuns and priest were worse to the quite and shy ones. it was a place from hell and that is where the nuns and priest will be going. when they meet their maker. It did not mater how young or old you were, when they abused and sexual abuse you. they used god’s name to abuse us with and we did not have a name, just a number, which they called us by. Ann
5 July 2011 at 2:14 pm
rosin bannon
I was born on the 4th June 1971 and was placed in St Joesephs baby home on Raven Hill Rd im 40 now i was left in a soggy nappy for days and when i was adopped my adopped parents were disgusted at the condition i was left in. i was left with severe nappy rash also blothes and marks all over my body.the only details my adoptive parents got was that my name was margeret mc ilroy and i had an older sister who also was in the home.if there is anybody who knows how i can get more information as to myself or my sister please contact me at my email address which is rosinloveselvis@hotmail.co.uk THX
13 February 2015 at 10:46 pm
Tomi
I was there as well and not good at all
22 April 2015 at 10:19 pm
Mcc
Hi Rosin, dont know if anyone has replied to you, you can contact the Nazareth convent on the Ravenhill Road, or the dioceses of Down & Conner, they may be able to help with records.
20 July 2011 at 2:03 am
Elizabeth Egan
I was nazareth house for only a short time, with my older sister and brother, in about 1968/69, I remember the nuns beating my wee brother who was only about 3/4 at the time, he had wet the bed, the beating he got was unreal, I also remember being locked in the playroom, when my dad came to get us they were so nice, they were horrible people, a shame to the church,
11 December 2013 at 11:30 pm
Linda McMullan
I was there with my sister around that time, we would have stood out as we were half chinese, do you remember Us, my sister got a beating in front of everyone as well but she was accused of ripping up a book… Linda
12 August 2011 at 5:03 pm
ann blake
hi, how do i find records for nazareth house,belfast,from about 1959-60. i remember being there,but my older sister doesnt,i need to clarify this please..but i do rem bein beaten cos i bed wet,and bein drowned in a large tin tub..lining up to get my hair washed..i may have been about 3..can anyone help me how to check records thanx
15 September 2011 at 7:40 pm
Deirdre
Records from Nazareth House Belfast can be obtained from Nazareth House Care Village, Ravenhill Rd Belfast
Don’t expect much. All you will get is the dates you went in, when you left, when you were confirmed . No medical records, No school records. Only the holy stuff that they brainwashed us with. What a load od T W A T S they were
25 September 2011 at 1:53 am
karen donnan
I too was a child who was placed in the care of St Joseph’s Babies home Ravenhill Road Belfast at the age of 12 in the 1980’s and I have to write this message because I have to say that those Sisters of Nazereth saved my life. They were the most kind and devoted people I have ever known and only for them I wonder in what direction my life would have gone. Sr. Theresa was the nun in charge of st Joseph’s at the time I was there and all I can say of her is that I honestly believe she should now be a saint. She was the most kind, gentle, loving person I have ever had the good fortune to meet and now Iam in my late forties, I still think of her on a regular basis and pray that she is in a good place as she was such an influence in my life. Sr. Thereaa thought me so much to be proud of and only for her I truely don’t even believe that I would have achieved as much as I have to this day. I now run my own very successful business and have just completed a law degree at the university of cork with a particular interest in childrens rights. The sisters of Nazereth might not have been perfect in their day to day care of us children – but then who is or was? – (ask yourselves why you were there in the first place) they did their best as far as I am concerned and that is all anyone can ask of anyone even yourself as a parent today! Ballyhornan was the best holiday in the world – ask yourselves how many other children in Ireland had the luxury of a summer holiday in such a place? not many I would suggest. Sit back – get rid of the chip and seriously realise what these nuns gave us.
1 December 2012 at 3:28 pm
Anonymous
Hi I think I remember u me and my two sisters were in St joesphs a long time about 12 years . I’m Laura Kennedy and my sisters [names withheld by admin].
25 September 2011 at 6:20 pm
Deirdre
I do realise what those Nuns gave me and it wasn’t a chip. They beat me black & blue, locked me in a store room, swung me round by my hair, almost drowned me in a bath, That is just a few things they did to me.
11 October 2011 at 12:42 pm
maggie crowe
I would like to see these so called nuns jailed 4 this and the filthy paedophiles neither could be classed as human hiding behind a religion to abuse and rape children, and to those equally filthy so called holy people who are supporting them where oh where is your dignity?? your love and compassion?? only someone that has no heart or lost it a long time ago would speak in their favour please dont mention religion this filth has got nothing to do with it nuns! church going paeople?? these beasts are not human it they deserve never to be freed to mix among people again print this please
17 October 2011 at 4:23 pm
Jackie
Ive read through all whats been said and I know from experience that what Deirdre says would most certainly be correct ,I also had abuse off nuns in Ireland ,in the 1950’s which has had a profound affect on me ,Hope deirdre keeps her head up and fights for all the thousands of other people who went through the same ..
22 October 2011 at 9:51 am
Deirdre
Even today at 56 years old I am still haunted by what the evil bastards did to innocent little children. The so called CHRISTIAN brothers were perverts. I have heard such shocking stories from men about what happened to them. Grown men gave cried on my shoulder about what the pervs did to them as children. How can we forgive & forget, Never Never. Too many lives destroyed.
25 October 2011 at 9:01 pm
Catherine McCallum
Looking for information on poor sisters of Nazareth in Manchester. Anyone who was there between 1946 to 1960. Email me at mccallum07@googlemail.com Many thanks.
13 June 2012 at 12:08 am
sam campbell
my dad and his two brothers were put into nazareth lodge in the 1930s in belfast, dad is frail and 88 years old now but time has not dimmed his memories of those cruel wicked bastards and what they did to him is pure evil,he still had nightmares for many years after he left, paticularly about sister hildegard, phisical, mental and sexual abuse, starvation and brainwashing are etched on his mind to this day.
13 June 2012 at 8:01 am
micheailin
It’s unbelievable, isn’t it, how people can be so venal and cruel.
13 June 2012 at 9:55 pm
sam campbell
yes, when i used to listen to my dad talking about his upbringing i used to think he must be exaggerating a bit until i read the comments of others such as being beaten and put in a freezing cold bath if he wet the bed, being forced to scrub floors whilst being hit with a leather strap, i could go on and on, it breaks your heart.
14 June 2012 at 3:03 am
micheailin
I was thinking about the abuse of children today when I was reading about the Sandusky trial and wondering how it could go on so long without someone forcing someone to do something, but then I realised I was thinking as a grown adult. Children cannot do that because they must just be absolutely overwhelmed at being away from home and family to begin with and then to be abused by someone whom ANYONE would THINK should be the very last person to be an abuser must just be beyond belief. Children are so vulnerable, and that’s what makes their mistreatment so much worse than anything else.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/community-telegraph/south-belfast/news/abuse-victims-return-to-nazareth-house-16020606.html
I don’t see the Catholic church, however, changing at all. They continually lie and try to sweep things under the rug and pretend to be so surprised. And this starts from the Pope on down. It’s hopeless, and I am a Catholic.
18 November 2013 at 12:09 am
Teresa Black
Hi Sam I think my dad has nightmares too about Sr Hildeguard and Sr Amadeus. He was put in the home in 1933. He didn’t tell us anything for years till we were grown up. He hasn’t really gone in to detail. He’s told me he’s writing something for me to read one day. He mentioned something about a sports hut by the sports field. I don’t know if he was talking about someone else or himself. He told me that Hildeguard had her bullies (older boys). I think one became quite prominent in Belfast. I’ll get his name. He has a DVD about the christian brothers and he offered it to me to watch. He didn’t ask me to watch it. I haven’t dared watch it yet. My son is only 8 and he thinks my dad is the jolliest happiest person so full of fun and kindness. God knows how he turned out the way he has. It breaks my heart to think of what they did to him. I have tried since the seventies to trace his mother. I think I have found her but I have no birth certificate as he wasn’t registered at the records office so I can’t prove it. He just wants to see a picture of his mother. She had him for 22 months before she had to hand him over to Nazareth House. They have conveniently lost the agreement. She was a protestant woman.
3 December 2013 at 9:42 pm
jack
Thank you for this wonderful letter, Teresa. I won’t say anything. My story is a little different, but similar. I am crying inside and have tears running down my face at the memories you make come forward. I keep it deep inside but can feel your love for your dad- good on you. We survive and we get better, especially if we are helped.
31 July 2015 at 12:16 am
Christina Laverty
Would anyone have any particular information on Sister Amadeus? It was she who was in contact with my adoptive parents & told them I was her “pet”. My earliest memory is fear, with no words to describe it, but I do not have any memory of St Joseph’s & that, I think is a blessing.
8 October 2012 at 1:39 pm
Deirdre
At last an inquiry Here is the web address http://www.hiainquiry.org
8 October 2012 at 10:37 pm
micheailin
Thanks for the link Deirdre.
9 October 2012 at 9:23 am
Deirdre
As the Inquiry is not yet advertised outside Ireland just thought I’d put the link to the Inquiry where ever I can as there are people who now live further afield may not know about it. Hopefully it will be advertised outside of Ireland before too long. There are more of us for this inquiry than against it. If an Inquiry into abuse was good enough for the Republic then it’s good enough for the North. Abuse is abuse whatever side of the border it took place. As I was also abused in an Institution in the Republic I wasn’t giving up till an Inquiry took place in the North.
I can’t do as much as I used to with not living in Ireland now but good on those who are carrying on the hard work. There is help & support for those who wish to come forward & tell their story to the Inquiry. It will be hard but you will get through it. Take care All
10 October 2012 at 2:40 am
micheailin
I appreciate this very much. Best wishes to you in the future.
21 October 2012 at 5:01 am
Susan
I was in st josephs and nazereth lodge from august 1979 to feb 1985, and in christmas 1984 i was in nazereth lodge, now abuse did happen!, some didnt get abused, and lots did get abused.
I have a sharp memory, i remember the staff at st joes, there was anne and liz who worked with infants.
There was dwarf jackie with black curly hair who used to eat very runny poached eggs, she was a bitch to me
there was martin, who was nice but was as it turned out, was a paramilitary, he used to sing the banjo on my knee song
there was paul henry, attracta, sr teresa who was nice in front of my mum, sr patricia circa 1983, she was louely, she used to drive me around a lot that summer in a red nissan estate car.
And ther was a kid called joseph and he had a bad limp and ther was mary the mute girl, and i was abused there
it was a bad and a good place, many things happened there, that place had a bad effect on me and other children at the time.
I have a good mem of the xmas 84 party at the shamrock club.
But i had a bad time in that home, and i dont want to go and relive it all the days of my life.
21 October 2012 at 7:48 am
micheailin
Thank you for your comment, Susan. I wish you all the best.
1 December 2012 at 3:35 pm
Anonymous
Omg is that Susan [name withheld by admin] I think I was there to we did Irish dancing I’m Laura Kennedy and my sisters [names withheld by admin].
5 November 2012 at 5:35 pm
anne
My mother was in Nazareth House Southampton from 1924 until 1939. She has recently told me of the abuse she received as a child and how frightened she was always. Words she has used are brutal and evil. She has told me she was raped whilst in there and this must mean she was only 15 years old or under. Where can I find justice for this crime? I hope the person/s get their just rewards for what they did to my mother.
6 November 2012 at 12:12 am
micheailin
Anne,
I was just recently given this link for the Inquiry they intend to conduct about this. Try here:
http://www.hiainquiry.org
4 March 2013 at 2:22 am
susan
hi, i’m not that susan that did irish dancing im afraid,
can i ask maria benson where u in st joes in 1982? You had bobbed hair? And your family came up one summer day and wrecked the place? You were treated awful by the staff as i remember you were abused, maybe im thinking of another.
I was abused by other children who were in turn badly abused by staff! An awful cycle, and i was terrified and really afraid to speak, but i did eventually and was treated as a liar because i was still a 11yr old child, even trades men who delivered food etc took advantage, the priests and nuns could be just dreadful and obviously abusive to the quieter ones, i remember hittin a nun who tried beatin me for not doin chores, id had enuf and by golly i whacked that trollop hard! And ran out, and i was not taken back, i was 12 it was 1985, you’d think by then
there would be no such things as staff abuse towards kids, but there was, and it was terrible for us the screams that echoe’d in nazereth were awful at times.
2 April 2013 at 3:35 am
rina Connolly
Hated them. I was there 1994 with my sister Tara and my brother James.
11 April 2013 at 1:23 am
majella
were you in nazareth lodge ravenhill road 1994 i was there dont remember yous
25 November 2013 at 11:57 am
neil
majella do you remember me neil mccomiskey i was in there round that year with thomas,jackie marty and cashleen smith
13 May 2013 at 2:04 pm
Anonymous
The English Homes were just as bad! The most infamous nun at Portsmouth Nazareth House being Sr. Louis Marie. At our reunions, NO- ONE has a good word for her. She was an absolute sadist! Hope it’s true what they say – “what goes around, comes around”
19 October 2015 at 7:22 am
Geraldine Scanlan
Hello, I am Geraldine. Sr. Louise Marie was a nightmare for me too!!I was at Southsea/Portsmouth 1954 – 1969 then moved back to Naz. House, Nottingham, My original Naz. House entry is from 1948 till I left 1965. When I went to catch up with Louise Marie, in Hammersmith, it was of course all denied and the girl there who was there while I was talking to Louise Marie, at the same time, said I was lying!!! I had no idea you had reunions! Do I know you? Thanks for your input.Geraldine
19 April 2016 at 2:00 pm
Cecilia lang
Hi! Don’t think I’d know you as was there at a different time. 1949 _1955 then sent to Isleworth Naz. House aged 11 What was your surname then? The other nuns at the time were Paulinus, Wilfred and Perpetual. The last reunion I attended was in August I don’t go to many now as I’ve moved. The last reunion was huge, all ages attended. Louis Marie wasn’t there this time but attended all the others, the nerve of the woman!ce
1 June 2013 at 6:32 pm
Deirdre
They were bastards worldwide.
26 September 2013 at 12:15 pm
Anonymous
Do you remember a tracey
30 October 2013 at 5:58 pm
donna
my poor mother still has nightmares cause of those bastards she told me what went on in there and i felt voilently sick she is now 71 years old
31 October 2013 at 9:10 am
Anonymous
HI Donna. The abuse not only affects the abused it also affects the whole family. Hope your mum & yourself have someone to talk to if that is what you want. Talking about it can help some but it’s not for everyone. I still get rageing mad about what they did to innocent children. Take Care Deirdre
12 November 2013 at 11:21 pm
Sadie
Hi deirdre remember me we sort of lost touch stella percival was draine i have my interview in belfast dec17 am looking forward to telling my side of the story no matter what anybody says we were treated awful and i can comfirm everything you have said is true, hope you are keeping well take care
14 November 2013 at 9:53 am
Anonymous
Hi, I wish you all the best telling your side of the story. I said my bit in January. It brings so many hurtful things back & I had dreadful panic attacks after but I don’t regret anything ie setting up the petition for justice for the abused etc. This needed to be out in the open for all to know what went on in there. As you know I was in one of those places in Limerick as well as Belfast & like I said abuse is abuse whichever side of the border it took place. It isn’t all about money as some idiots have said. I’m doing ok. I have a good family. Justice will prevail. Take Care Love Deirdre xx
djodonoghue@hotmail.co.uk
14 November 2013 at 8:07 pm
Deirdre
Don’t know why I’ve come up as anonymous. I always use my real name where & when ever I post. Must have hit the button before I put my name on.
11 December 2013 at 11:27 pm
Linda McMullan
does anyone remember two half chinese girls btween 1968 and 1970 ??
2 January 2014 at 10:24 pm
Anonymous
hi bernadette just touching base I like most of your letter it was cool to read about the park and the baths (swimmingpool) member the brownies and going to irish dancing yea we had each outher but it had its nitemares to but i still plan to tell it like it was and u r a result of your pass that is no question aboutit happy new year bernie collette
16 January 2014 at 8:10 pm
Peter Gervais (gracey)
Does any one remember a boy called Peter gracey ( mixed race ) was in the lodge Belfast from 1962 to 1970
29 August 2014 at 9:21 pm
Anonymous
Hello Peter, I remember you very well, my mum used to invite you to our house for weekends
1 December 2014 at 10:50 pm
Anonymous
Hi How old was I at that time and have you any pictures of me as I have none at all when I was a child ?
1 December 2014 at 10:55 pm
Peter Gervais
If you would like to can you can contact me by email.
Regard Pete
7 June 2016 at 8:57 pm
Anonymous
I have a picture of me and a little girl as must be when we where around 5or 6 years old. Could this be you?
My email is
pete_gervais@hotmail.co.uk
If you would like to get in touch
Regards
Pete
15 April 2014 at 11:17 pm
Anonymous
Looking for Diane McKay born at Southampton Nazareth House 23/06/1968
21 June 2014 at 3:14 am
Liddy
Liddy, this is regards to some negative,nasty, and totally on called for comments that have appeared on this site, and other sites that I have come across. I have read through these on number of times, thinking how awful they are, and I have decided to comment on this.
I got the impression that these sites were for people who had been abused in care homes in Northern Ireland, i.e. Nazareth House/lodge, and St Joesph’s baby home in south Belfast,( or other areas of there so called care homes) who wanted to talk to others who were or are still suffering the same fate,and whatb I had came across, were people attacking others for what they were recounting what happened to them in these homes, and people were doing this for money and jumping on the band wagon etc.
What I know that there were horrific things that happened to children in these so called care homes , and you were lucky if nothing happen to you, you were very fortunate.
I was in St Joesph baby home,& Nazareth lodge, these were for a few weeks at a time, I was with my siblings, and I can say that, as far as I remember I didn’t personally have physically abuse, but my siblings did, one was dragged out of bed at the age of 3 because he wet the bed, their nose rubbed in to the urine soaked bed, then dragged across the floor towards doors, were they were stripped & beaten, they would not eat the porridge and the rice & currants, they were made to sit at the table until they did, if they didn’t they were forced fed, throwing up everywhere then made to clean it up. My other sibling had done something minor, and was stripped naked & hung in the bathroom on the back of the door for hours .
I could go on and tell more but I won’t, these are a few incidents, and also the number of people who I know or did know, have not, or do not want to come forward, for rewards or any thing else, just trying to forget,or just want justice, some have unfortunately committed suicide, or have gone on to drug abuse,alcohol abuse, etc and mental health problems, their lives totally destroyed.
I think everyone has their story to tell and who is anyone of us to dispute or say they are lying. there is evidence everywhere, investigations etc, they all can’t be wrong. I believe that some maybe did not suffer at the hands of nuns, priests, of staff in these places.but a lot of people did!.
So I think compassion, and thoughts go to all of us if we wish to talk etc,we should be able to, and be given the utmost respected to come forward if we decided to do so, and the person who seems to quote the Bible & God, these were people of God, and their choice was to cause suffering of pain & unbelievable cruelty to young vulnerable people, who thought that in their confusion ,pain, loss & heartache, that these so called people of God who were supposed be good people would care & love them that is all they wanted,
YOU ARE ALL SURVIVORS NOT VICTIMS !!
25 June 2014 at 10:41 pm
Liddy
Want to ask someone/or Deirdre? what year is the photo up above? would like to know thanks
26 June 2014 at 8:35 am
tj
I think the photo was around 1963. Can’t be 100% accurate though.
29 June 2014 at 9:37 pm
Liddy
Ok thank you, a bit to early I think
14 August 2014 at 3:14 pm
Pauline
Is there anyone who was at Nazareth House, Hill Lane, Southampton in the first half of 1973? Particularly Anna who I shared a room with? My memories are happy ones because of the girls staying there waiting to give birth and times we spent together and the Nuns were not unkind to us.
2 January 2015 at 12:22 am
y1anna
Hi Pauline. Only just got this site. I left there in 1972 and have good memories. Alice, St. Francis Clara etc.
20 January 2015 at 4:49 pm
Ric
Unfortunately my mother was raised at the portsmouth branch and my uncle at the southampton one in the 1940’s and 50’s. They were left physically and emotional scarred suffering sexual abuse also. This affected all thier relationships with partners and thier children. So sad. I was born at the southampton convent in 1966 when it had a ” mother and baby unit” as my mum was unwed. She did take me back after i was put placed in a foster home. I have about 30 “Aunties” who were at Nazareth house portsmouth all with fun and vile tales to tell. The nuns have a lot to answer for – cold rotten hearted bullies with few exceptions. Aint gods love great ?
9 September 2014 at 4:13 pm
Katie stokes
Does anyone know if there was a children’s home run by nuns in Lancashire ? Probably connected to a mother & baby home in Dorridge warickshire also run by nuns need to fill in my jigsaw life . Thanks
23 March 2015 at 12:23 pm
Ashline Delaney
Hi i was in St.Josephs too im now 32 and i was there for five years never left the one unit…just wondering if what year you were there… i was there in 1989…i really have no bad experiences except one but this member of staff wasnt very nice more to other children than my self i rememeber we were all taking into some office and asked what happened we told and all i remember is he never came baxk to work…other than that the staff were very very nice… Mark Mckimmons and Connie mcVey and Ray were the best i remember…. i do remember going to Nazaerth house to chapel alot but then we were moved to the Nazareth house at the top of Ravenhill road always wondered why…never got a food feeling from Nazareth house i must say…and its very very sad to hear what happened to those children and i hope someday they will get there Justice…
23 March 2015 at 12:27 pm
Ashline Delaney
Just wondering if anyone was in St.Josephs around the same time as my self From 1989..???? Would like to hear from yous
1 April 2015 at 10:00 pm
neil
I dont know if this is the right person but did you have a brother called eamonn in nazareth lodge on ravenhill rd?I was in there in the very early 90s for a sort period,
3 May 2015 at 9:14 pm
Tomi
was anyone in st josephs baby home belfast 1962 1966
3 August 2015 at 5:21 pm
Carol
Hi was any body on here in nazareth house in manchester around 1940-1956?? My mum lived there from a very early age and i was wondering if anyone else wa too around them years thanks
16 August 2015 at 8:15 pm
Anonymous
May God forgive them nuns evil vermin those poor children hope they roast in hell
7 October 2015 at 10:00 pm
Anne Whipday
Myself and my sisters were in there early 1960’s The Hunters we were called and remember the abuse very well.
8 October 2015 at 11:59 am
Linda McMullan
Do you remember Two sister around 1968 or so Lee was our surname and we were half Chinese?
9 October 2015 at 9:10 am
Anne Whipday
I would have been about 8 or 9 so I’m not sure but I will ask my sister Phyllis x
7 October 2015 at 10:02 pm
Anne Whipday
Nazareth House I mean
10 December 2015 at 9:33 pm
Des Connolly
I recently met a girl who was with me in Nazareth House Southampton. I asked her what was it like. She said the sisters saved her life. She did not have a bad word to say about them.
I also met two brothers who were placed in Southampton for several years. The sister that cared for them even after all these years still writes to them every year. They loved her very much. She was the only mother they had.
I remember one sister caring for a boy who was terribly disabled. She could not have done more for him.
I never met one sister like the ones many of you discribe. Many many children would have no place to live if it had not been for these sisters. They were unpaid and had very hard lives – sometimes looking after hundreds of children. Children that their own parents had abandoned!
Lets tell the whole truth – not just part of it and lets be very precise about who we are talking about. There are a lot of stories and a lot of money being sort!
11 December 2015 at 3:08 pm
Anonymous
Maybe things changed from the 70’s onwards. Maybe not.
I will never forgot what the evil bitches did to me in Belfast.
They will pay for their sins somehow.
Money isn’t the be all and end all.
Justice will prevail.
3 April 2016 at 3:06 pm
Anonymous
Ireland wasn’t the only place where cruelty took place. It was just as bad in England. Namely Naz. House Portsmouth! Sr. Louis Marie was the worst a complete sadist! Who enjoyed nothing better than ducking a child’s head under a cold water tap, pulling us up on tiptoe till one’s ears popped.The beatings that took place in her cell were for her own enjoyment not for our correction as we usually had’t done anything! One of the girls I saw recently told me she’s had years of therapy because of Louis Marie! Hope she burns in Hell!
17 May 2016 at 4:18 pm
Twins in Belfast
Hello – I’m looking for anyone who remembers my Mum Mary and her twin sister Rita who were in Belfast Nazareth from about 1945 to 1955 when they were 17 and moved out to a hostel. My Mum’s memory is fading and she’s returning more and more to her time in the Convent, I’d like to be able to help her by sharing some memories from others. Thank you.
1 November 2016 at 10:12 pm
Cecilia lang
Any chance Anita Sadler ever visits this link you were at Cheltenham Nazareth House with Sr . Aquinas who sent you to another Nazareth House presumably as when we returned from school you were gone!
20 November 2016 at 9:48 am
Susan
To the lady who has a “fabulous saved life” as a lawyer let me Just say, that sister Teresa from the st joseph group, was a Duplicitous dangerous sadistic old bat luv!!
I saw her face change like day from night when my mum and dad came to visit me my brother and two sisters, very nice to their faces and then slapped by her for nothin at night, she had a harsh tongue when s the mood took her, she was nice to her chosen few, I was in both st joes and nazereth in the long stayunits mostly between 79′ and 85′, I REMEMBER succinctly well!!! my mum suffered bad chronic illness’s my father was a social climber a music proffessor who just couldn’t be bothered so we ended up there.
I was one of the protestant kids there, not that that is important in itself, but i was forced to go to mass and beaten when I didn’t go,I was sexually abbused by a number of male staff there, beaten by jackie the dwarf, and serendipity happened a couple yrs ago I saw hore in dunness on the embankment and i told her what she was and what she did and a few other things, and that trolll was so indifferent my husband couldn’t believe her care less attitude, I and others saw what happened there, kids were targeted deliberately ESPECIALLY if they were quiet shy, they were the Perfect model for abuse unfortunately as they couldn’t speak.
I saw children who were abused by staff and nuns, who later went on to abuse other kids, you can forgive those abusive kids because you know why, they got disturbed, but you can NOT forgive the staff or Nuns or priests! They were fully formed grown ups who Really did Know the difference between Right and Wrong. They actively and quite deliberately carried out venemous and deliberate self venting acts of cruelty knowing all the while in their conciences that they hurt children and teenagers, They should NOT have chosen their Vocations or jobs if they couldn’t cope or had mental health issues.
They vetted correctly, no one cared, brush it under and away to save the already tarnished image
of those homes and infrastructure.
Sr teresa wasn’t always that nice to All children, I’m gettin’ Fed up with the priviliged ones who say nothin’ happened there, its peculiar what you can blind yourself to when thiings are goin your way?
But many of us had dreadful experiences.
Someone also said they thought things may have improved in the 70’s, well Frankly they didn’t as it would appear!!
Let’s not forget Staff who weren’t nuns or priests there could also be Very abusive, not all of them, ballyhornan (and I live two miles from there now) hholds no good memories for me, as I was being sexually abused at that time in summer 1983, its an immuteable fact! Not an accomplished one.
I was terrified, and all I can hear is that song I O U by Freez in my head, and the way I was abused out side might I add inn broad daylight, I forgive that older child what he did was awful, but he also suffered terribly.
I hate that place.
I remember in the summer of 1982, a mother came up with her family and started an holy severe wreckin racket, I’ll never forget it, her daaughter was the there, I thought that might be maria benson, perhaps not, but that mother threw heaps of dishes, toys furniture and physically attacked the staff swore gloriously it was great and the police had to come it went on for over two hrs I remember,
And it was over her treatment BY the staff, and to be honest that mother was right ti do what she did, other parents shouted too neglet was rife there, I hated bath time and vein touched down below it was horrible then we had watch dallas as one of the staff who was on on saturday nights early 82′ watched it so we had to after baths.
My memory is vivid, I remember only a few kids, but Staff names I’m much better with
The only nun who treated me humanely was sr Patricia, she was a younger progressive nun, she looked after me through spring summer 83′ I could never talk to her about what happening to me since 1981 as I was deeply ashamed, she was lovely but she moved to another unit so I never saw her again.
I remember phyllis from st joes she had a datsun that had clutch problems makin the car go dead slow she was a nice staff member.
There was a staff member called maria in 1984 and I told her just some of what happened to me, she had short spikeyish hair, then she made me and my brother (as sisters had left by then) discuss abuse, and it terrible, the nun involved whose name I cannot remember pulled me aside later told me I was a liar and proceeded to hit my face, I kicked her hard and ran and phoned my mum, who was ill at the time, it was a mess and it was covered up, then in 89′ when I was in a completley differnt home in east belfast, the officer told me to sue the east belfast health board, and I got mad because she told me I’d get compensated, I told her I didn’t want to have money to remember everyday seeing things bought with that money that reminded me of what happened to me and Other kids, money is Not the issue it never was, she was also a hypocite as i was abused at work in hairdressers I worked at, both sexually and finacually, I told her trusted her, she told my boss!!
He refuted the cunt, and she told me I was a liar and to drop it, I was terribly humiliated and waanted to be swallowed up and I retracted under duress and fear, and left work shattered emotionally, then she the same staff member of this east belfast home I was in, later and peculliarly tells me to sue the east belfast health board? For the abuse I suffered at st joes, You couldn’t make it up!!
We did get abused there, for fuck staff in other homes in the late 80s knew it and were telling us to sue??? It beggers belief how a big public enquirey didn’t happen then? Off course they were too busy covering up kincora st joes nazereth et al, Fir goodness sake it was known!!
It couldn’t be hidden it was endemic!
It has damaged my life forever, I have a poor life, I can’t interact with people, I have isolated myself through fear thatw omt go away ever, I hide myself away, I feel very dirty ashamed, controlled, villified, all because of this home, and I wasnt there in the 30s 40s 50s, I was there in the relatively modern progressive 1980s, except that it wasn’t a progessive time it seems, not for nazereths children.
20 January 2017 at 6:32 pm
Deirdre
In 2013 I wrote Justice will prevail. Today it did.
It will take some time for a redress board to be set up.
I hope all who were abused will go for it.
And for those who loved every minute of their time in those institutions, think about what you have said over the years and do the right thing, DECLINE.
Wishing you all the best, Deirdre.
21 January 2017 at 8:30 am
Linda McMullan
Hi Deidre my sister and I were in for 3 years in Nazareth lodge it must of taken its toll because my mind seems wiped my sister tho recalls the cold baths and beating plus we had another sister who was in between us which we knew nothing about until we found her about 20 years ago.
22 January 2017 at 7:16 pm
Deirdre
HI, It will have taken its toll on the majority of us in one way or another.
It affects everyone in a different way. I always knew our day would come. Take Care, Deirdre.