Stories from the silence: An extract from Caelainn Hogan's new book, Republic of Shame
In an extract from her new book, Republic of Shame, Caelainn Hogan tells the story of Blánaid, a young woman in mid-1970s Ireland who was forced to give up her newborn son for adoption
When I started speaking to people about the mother-and-baby homes, I sometimes wondered about a woman I used to know, the mother of an ex-boyfriend.
Blánaid had had a child when she was young and unmarried. The child had been adopted, I knew that, and she was trying to locate him. I didn’t know if she’d been in one of the institutions.
One day, I searched her name online, and found her artist’s ...
