This pandemic has given me time to reflect on my mother’s 12 years of childhood Lockdown/incarceration in Cork. Can you imagine being incarcerated at 2? Why?
The issue of child slavery within Ireland has been kicked under the carpet. Churches don’t mention it. But it’s a faith and justice issue. So, I was encouraged to discover the work and person of Gerard Mannix Flynn.
In his new film Mannix examines the legacy of Institutional abuse by the Irish Church and State over the last century. The story follows him, together with generations of his family, who for the first time, speak openly together about their childhood traumatic experience of being removed from the family home and being incarcerated in children’s homes and industrial institutions run by religious catholic orders. The children worked the land from dawn until dusk, ill-clothed, half-starved day in day out. The regime was merciless.
Manning says;
“Our story has always been stolen, sold and told by somebody else. We have been pitied rather than given justice. This film is told by those who witnessed, experienced and suffered the institutions first hand, my family. For over forty years I have tried to come to terms with what had happened to me, personally, in those institutions. I searched in the wilderness for answers, for reasons, for justice. Nothing came of it. The more I searched for answers the more there was none. My history simply wasn’t recorded. I want this film to redress that absence and silence and correct the historical record. This is an opportunity to ensure Ireland’s history and our history is included and written by those who experienced the unthinkable and who live to this day with the unfixable. For the generations to come questions will be asked about this chapter in Irish history. The grandchildren of those who were incarcerated will want to know, will have a right to know, what kind of history shaped their lives.”
Here’s a link to his website and the official trailer;
https://www.landwithoutgod.com/
Feature picture is my mum Margaret Helen Dean in Yosemite National Park, California.
Jeanette, thank you for your honesty and courage in sharing your personal journey. You remind us that only when we become aware, and acknowledge other people’s pain and suffering, can we blossom into healthy communities who ´have each other’s backs’. Thank you for sharing Manning’s words and providing us with a link to his story.
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you’re welcome. glad you find it meaningful. yes, I agree with you!
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Thank you, Jeannette, for writing about this. I will explore Manning’s work further. This seems incomprehensible — it must be given the space it requires to work through. Your Mum’s picture is lovely. I’m glad I got to see her here.
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