‘Flowers for the Women of the Galway Magdalene Laundry’ to be held this Sunday (Sept 1 ) is an annual event to commemorate the women and girls who were incarcerated in the Galway Magdalene Laundry and died behind the convent walls of the Sisters of Mercy, who ran the institution.
Over 80 of the women are buried in cemeteries in Galway with headstones marking their names. It is not known how many of the former ‘Maggies’, as they were known, are lying in unknown places in unmarked graves.
The Flowers Event centres around remembering the women with the simple act of laying flowers at those Magdalene graves that are accessible to the public, in Bohermore cemetery.
This year’s event will be held on Sunday September 1. Any persons wishing to come together to visit the Magdalene graves and lay a flower to honour the women are asked to assemble inside the main gates of Bohermore cemetery at 2pm to walk to the gravesides.
Donations of flowers are welcome. A spokesperson for the group behind organising the event, which first took place in 2012 said, “It is 11 years since the official State apology was given to the survivors of the Magdalene Laundries and their families. It is so important that we do not treat that apology as closing the book on this shameful period in our history, and especially that we remember there was a traumatic life story behind each individual who suffered under this cruel system.
“This trauma continues today as not only were the women denied their rights when they were sent to the Magdalene Laundries and detained there, but the right to redress continues to be denied by the Irish State to some of the survivors alive today.
“The trauma also continues for the families of the ‘Maggies’ as they search for, or discover, the truth, or try to come to terms with what actually happened to one of their own.
"The Irish government must provide justice by allocating compensation to all the survivors and their families, without further delay.
“The Flowers Event affords an opportunity for us all to acknowledge the women of the Galway Magdalene Laundry in death as many were not acknowledged during their lifetimes.”
