Catherine Corless at the unveiling of my poem ‘Voice’ in Tuam

This poem was first published in 2018 by Ambit when Malika Booker picked it as a winner in their annual poetry competition. It is now published in my debut pamphlet “Hush”. It is dedicated to any woman who ever suffered the trauma of a Mother & Baby Home in Ireland.

The recent controversy over the records of the Commission of Enquiry into the Mother & Baby Homes being sealed for thirty years has prompted me to record it and share. You would honestly want degrees in Law, Data Protection, and Government Shenanigans in order to figure out what the hell is going on but it smacks of a state protecting itself and its religious institutions. Enough of keeping the voices of women silent in this country!

A copy of the poem has been put up at the site of the former Mother & Baby Home in Tuam by the lovely Helen Gillard, who invited the mighty Catherine Corless along to its unveiling. Catherine is my absolute hero. She has worked tirelessly to get to the bottom of this gruesome story. It was 2013 when she first brought it to the attention of the media, church and state wanting nothing to do with it, and STILL the remains of those children are in that septic tank. WHEN are they going to get a respectful burial? Shame on our government.