Michael Viney explored many of the issues surrounding mother and baby homes in a groundbreaking series in The Irish Times in 1964.
No Birthright, a study of the unmarried mother and her child, examined how the social, political and religious climate of the time conspired to brush these issues under the carpet.
It was reprinted as a booklet and became a text for sociology students in UC, and proved a catalyst in helping to shape new social supports and attitudes towards unmarried mothers.
Here, we revisit the series using our Digital Archive.
No Birthright: a study of the unmarried mother and her child
Part one:
[ Clare and DannyOpens in new window ]
‘I’ll do anything to keep my baby. Anything short of prostitution - I’ll draw the line there’
Part two:
[ The ReckoningOpens in new window ]
‘If you go besmirching the name of Irish womanhood’, a doctor told me, ‘you won’t be forgiven’
Part three:
[ The Secret ServiceOpens in new window ]
‘Perhaps the one really distressing aspect of these secret service homes is that Irish society should have made such conspiracy necessary’
Part four:
[ Pregnant from IrelandOpens in new window ]
‘The initials PFI [pregnant from Ireland] are part of the everyday vocabulary of social workers who help unmarried mothers in London’
Part five:
[ The Lonely CityOpens in new window ]
‘The Republic is acquiring the reputation both of not facing up to its emigrants’ problems and of pretending they don’t exist’
Part six:
[ The Chosen ChildrenOpens in new window ]
'The child born to an unmarried mother in Ireland stands a four-to-one chance of being adopted."
Part seven:
[ The Luck of LoveOpens in new window ]
‘The unmarried mother has the rest of her life to live. Her child’s has just begun. Should we not hate the sin, but love the sinner - and the sinned against?’
