‘FINEST FLOWER’, a tribute to the women and children who survived mother and baby homes and Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, is the new single from Dublin singer-songwriter Ciara Sidine, and will raise funds for the Tuam Home Survivors Network.
The single, which draws on elements of country and folk, was launched at the Remembrance Day for Ireland’s Lost Children concert in Tuam on Saturday 29 September. Speaking about the inspiration for the song, Sidine said: “I was deeply touched many years ago by the documentary Sex In A Cold Climate, the first of its kind to lift the lid on Ireland’s treatment of pregnant women outside marriage. There was one story that haunted me. Christina Mulcahy was nearing the end of her life by the time she told it. It was beyond heart-breaking to hear of a young woman in an indifferent society, struggling to keep her baby boy and marry the father, whom she loved.
"She was still a breastfeeding mother when she told was unceremoniously one day to leave the home, as she was on her way to nurse her child. ‘Is there no time to say goodbye?’ she asked the nun. The answer was brutally clear. Her son was to be adopted, and Christina would have no say in it. When I came to write ‘Finest Flower’, I wanted to honour the love that each of these women had for their children, and the bond that could not be broken. I imagine Christina as the narrator of the song, a strong woman whose life was never the same again, but whose dignity and strength could not be erased."
Proceeds from the sale of ‘Finest Flower’ will be donated to the Tuam Home Survivors Network. See also www.ciarasidine.com
