Still Crusading for Truth

Over a century ago the Order first raised the issues which we tragically see played out today. Leading Knights in particular Sir Knight Thomas Henry Sloan campaigned for the Inspection, Regulation and even closure of the now infamous Convent Laundries.

The Knights of Malta and the Independent Orange Order were at the forefront of a campaign to expose the abuse perpetrated behind the walls and doors of so-called religious orders. These working class organisations had a real social conscience and the Convent Laundries issue sat at the centre of a number of cross-cutting themes. There was of course the faith based foundation where Protestants saw and campaigned against what they saw as error and abuse in the Roman Catholic Church. By 1900 this was exemplified by the all powerful position of the Roman Catholic Priest and Nun. Their authority was unassailable and with that power came the opportunity for abuse, and then cover-up.

The secretive cloistered world of Roman Catholic institutions and the dominance of clerics was anathema to Bible believing Protestants. They were alarmed that such Institutions were established in their cities and that young girls and children seemed to disappear in them. Add to this the tensions and suspicions between the two communities in Ireland and the Growing political role and socio-economic influence of clericalism and the stage was set for the Crusade for Convent Laundries Inspections.

The second issue which enthused many members of our Order at that time as the franchise was extended and they were given a vote was workers rights. Many were active in trade unionism, campaigning for better conditions, fair pay and workers rights. Convent Laundries stood in stark contrast to this progress and was rightly labelled as modern slavery. Young girls were trafficked between Institutions, they were imprisoned for supposed moral ‘crimes’ and were forced to work as slaves in the worst of conditions. They were mistreated and often starved with infant mortality the evidence of malnutrition and neglect.

The first to expose these abuses were members of Lord Shaftsbury’s Protestant Associations, a loose confederation of evangelical protestant bodies across the British Isles. They supported victims of Romans Catholic abuse, often helping them tell their story and raise awareness of the human rights abuses being carried out. Former nuns who had escaped recounted horror stories to church audiences and mass meetings.

The issue went to the heart of Protestantism and indeed so emotive was it that it was one of the factors in a split in the Orange Order in 1902/3. The rank and file membership in Belfast felt that politicians were using the order for their own ends and when in Parliament did not vote as their Orange electorate wished. One issue was legislation in 1902 to ensure Convent laundries were inspected by the Government to address the abuse. The Grand Master, the leading Orangeman in Belfast Col. Edward Saunderson was accused at the Twelfth by members of his audience of not voting for this legislation. The challenge was led by Thomas Sloan who appeared to accept the Colonels denial.

However this action led to Sloan’s suspension and he went on to form the ILOI. Here a valiant Knight of Malta took a stand for his faith against the ancient foe and when opposed took the course of a true Knight and went on to form an Order which reflected true Protestant principle. He later went on to win the Parliamentary Seat of South Belfast.

Here as MP for the area he was best placed to see the abuses and the position of the Romans Catholic Magdalene Asylum in his own Constituency. He took his campaign to Parliament and spent his two terms in Parliament leading a campaign to expose this abuse. He was supported by the Knights of Malta and the ILOI in this campaign and one can only wonder what suffering could have been avoided and what abuses could have been averted if more people had listened to him.

Imagine if Government had acted decisively, if the Inspections had exposed the extent of the abuse and the full force of the law been used to protect Human Rights. Then rather than drawing these factories of abuse into the social welfare system in the new post partition states we had secular care structures how much human misery could have been escaped.

Instead we have seen a Catholic citadel of corruption and cover-up Created North and South, which for over a century physically and spiritually enslaved an entire community and perpetrated some of the vilest abuses on the most vulnerable in that community.

In Sloan’s own constituency a Convent laundry continued its human rights abused until the 1980s, with the cover-up still ongoing despite recent Inquiries into Institutional Abuse.

Then as now we are Crusading for the victims, those women who were forced to give birth in mother and baby homes in Northern Ireland and children who were born in the homes, and campaigned for a public inquiry into abuses suffered there.

Their investigation highlighted the abuse of the women and girls in the homes as well as allegations of removal and forced adoption of new-born babies against the wishes of their mothers.

New information was uncovered showing high infant mortality rates for babies in children’s homes adjacent to the Mother and Baby Home run by the Good Shepherd Sisters, on Belfast’s Ormeau Road.

In a single year, 43 babies died from severe malnutrition at two Sisters of Nazereth children’s homes in Belfast, according to The Detail.

In an effort to expose the abuse women and children born in the homes are have led protests outside the former Laundry and Mother and Baby Home run by the Good Shepherd Sisters, on Belfast’s Ormeau Road. 

Oonagh McAleer, Chairperson of the Birth Mothers and their Children for Justice NI campaign group, was forced into Marianvale mother and baby home in Newry when she became pregnant as a 17 year-old. She gave birth to a son in 1980 but was prevented from ever seeing or holding her baby before he was taken away for adoption against her will. 

She said: “My baby was taken from me as soon as he was born. I never even got to hold him, or even to look at his face. He was adopted against my knowledge or agreement. 

“The nuns and the government did that to me. And they did it to my child and to so many other women and girls and their babies across Northern Ireland for decade after decade.

Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland programme director of Amnesty International, which is supporting calls for an inquiry, said: “Women in Northern Ireland have told Amnesty that they suffered arbitrary detention, forced labour, ill-treatment, and the removal and forced adoption of their babies – criminal acts in both domestic and international law.

“In 2013 Amnesty submitted a briefing paper to the Northern Ireland Executive supporting the case for a public inquiry into abuses in these Homes.