Mary Mary (The Book) ...
Article in The Irish World Newspaper (17-23 January 2024. Issue No 1910)
The Mary, Mary exhibition by photographer Mary Musgrove at the London Irish Centre in Camden (6th Jan til 5th February 2024) is described as a 'photovoice' project for victims and survivors of Ireland’s Mother and Baby Homes Scandal. It is a story of the ‘aftermath of trauma’ and a semi-autobiographical account of ‘what remains.’ In January 1964, Mary Musgrove’s mother was incarcerated for having a baby whilst unmarried. That later led to her sister Mary’s forced adoption. Mary’s sister had originally been named Mary by her mother.
Ireland’s still unresolved Mother & Baby Homes scandal has been well-documented and is a shameful part of Irish history. Musgrove feels that aside from some apologies and some compensation claims, there has been no long-term acknowledgement to help survivors and their families deal with their decades of abuse and trauma. Musgrove states that “At this point in time, The Redress Scheme has yet to receive a roll out date to compensate victims/survivors of the Mother and Baby Home scandal and of which it is estimated that 40% are unlikely to receive any compensation at all based on the criteria set out by the Irish government - adding insult to injury for many survivors and their families”.
Her own personal interpretation of the psychological issues faced by victims/survivors relies on what she calls therapeutic photography. She says the images in Mary, Mary explore Ireland’s landscapes in winter, where the narrative began. Mary, Mary explores the remains on Ireland’s landscape and it is her therapeutic photographic along with quotes and poetry that delve into the changing attitudes of society towards those in power, whether in politics or the church in response to the sexual, physical and mental abuse crimes recorded against vulnerable women and children by people they should have been able to trust.
Mary chose to exhibit at The London Irish Centre, Camden as it offers a safe place for victims and survivors to talk about their experiences if they wish and seek support with The Survivor Group.
Mary Musgrove, who is London Irish, told The Irish World: “Mary, Mary evolved as part of my Master’s photography (degree).
“It was my final project and I decided to do it because I felt that there was a need to address our family history and what had happened to my mum and my sister in 1964.
“I wanted to address the history of the family, to address what happened to our family because of this trauma with mum and ‘Mary’ because it impacted our family on a subliminal level.
“It was always there.
“It was a secret that was never, ever talked about, discussed, or delved into.
“I had an effect on me because I found out about it when I was 17 from a clairvoyant, so it was something that I brought up with mum and I went to look for my sister in Ireland.
“When I went to look for ‘Mary’- I was shunned by the nuns. It was something I could do nothing about. This made me quite angry and made me look differently at my family history and catholic upbringing, but it was then pushed to the back of my mind, it was always there in my subconscious, wondering, ‘Where is she? What happened? Why does nobody talk about it? Why is it such a secret? Why is it so bad to try and find her?’
“Because it was such a closed conversation, I never did anything after that because I didn't want to upset family - it was such a taboo subject. It was a secret - and with secrets, there’s shame. It was something that should have been more open and should have been discussed and talked about so we could have looked for her in a proactive and positive way. Because of this secrecy and trauma it was something that I feel created generational trauma.”
In Ireland from 1921 to 1996 there were about 90,000 women incarcerated and their children forcibly put up for adoption.
The exhibition looks at landscapes because she states “if you look a close look around Ireland, you will find abandoned homes, dereliction and neglect in a lot of areas and she wondered if that’s a home that somebody didn't come back for or claim. The large diaspora of people left during the 50s and 60s due to economy burdens but there were a lot of people that left due to the oppressive society and the shame that came from becoming pregnant outside of marriage and it was unlawful to use contraception. Some girls were underage and incarcerated even though they had been sexually abused by a family member.
“The Irish diaspora went to the UK , Australia, and America. Alot of those people didn’t return home - it has a bearing on the landscape we can see today from empty homes to boarded up convents and empty churches.
Q: Didn’t the film Philomena and the Irish government report into the Mother & Baby Homes bring the subject into the open?
“Absolutely, because before the film Philomena (2013) a lot of people knew nothing about it as it had been some time since ‘The Magdalene Sisters’ (2002) was brought to the public’s attention but Philomena came around at the time when attitudes were already changing towards church dominance in Ireland , as people had already started to hear more stories and and the internet and media have made more information available to talk more freely about it.
“People have been able to find their adopted children or their adopted children have been able to - with some difficulty - trace their birth families but the system Tusla has been overwhelmed and so people have had to wait a long time to find family members, of which for some it has been too late to reconcile their past, and some people didn't want to be traced at all - too much to deal with such a difficult period in their lives to contend with. So, for a large amount of people, there were no happy endings - including Philomena.
“Nowadays, It does make it easier for people to talk about but there were a lot of survivors that were traumatised - men and women - during that entire period.
“It wasn't just the Mother & Baby homes that were brutal with nuns and priests that were physically, sexually and mentally abusing the people in their ‘care’, there were the revelations about the Christian Brothers, Industrial schools and Borstals as well. A lot of those survivors don't want to go back to that story”
Q: You say you were young when you first realised you had a lost sister. Did becoming a mother change the story for you?
“Yes.
“I can't really imagine just how traumatic it must have been for these women and their separated children immediately after birth, a lot of them weren’t allowed to feed them, they were just taken away - its just the most saddest thing to think about when I think of my mum and sister being separated, not loving holding or feeding”.
Q: Did this project reconcile the Ireland you went on holiday to throughout your childhood, with the setting for this scandal and horrific story?
“As a teenager, from what I remember, It was a bit boring in the country. There was always a story about a teenager that had committed suicide or died whilst giving birth to a baby. It just made me feel a bit depressed - That would have been the ‘80s.
Q: You’re referring to stories like that of Ann Lovett, the 15-year-old who gave birth beside a grotto in Longford in 1984. Both she and the baby died.
Yes, my best friend moved back to Ireland during that time and she was friends with this poor girl and wrote to me about this. We were penpals. Young girls were dying and there was still that shame attached to the family. It was just so sad, and her sister took her life afterwards I remember her writing to me about that, imagine living through that and fearing that happening to you. I remember that story really well and I think these things have remained on my mind.
Q: So why do an exhibition about such a sad story that exposes your vulnerability?
“I wanted to use my photography to show images that showed the response to trauma, what has gone on in Ireland during my lifetime. I used this project to investigate what had happened to my family, to research the Irish history that ran alongside my family history. I needed to reconcile the outcome, to have a positive outcome at the end of it. It was during Covid-19 Lockdown and I felt isolated and frustrated at rules and regulations with no income, work so this exhibition evolved from a difficult time that I felt I needed to address the past as well as look at family relationships.
Q: Has it been a positive experience?
“It's been a real rollercoaster throughout the whole project. During the research I was angry, then sad, horrified and mystified at how people can behave in such an abhorrent manner. I wanted to produce a piece of work that would question the injustices of the church, and the government. It wasn't to sensationalise my history or any survivor stories, because a lot of people know the stories anyway through The Mother and Baby commission along with films and documentaries - it was purely for me to find my inner peace as a catholic, as a daughter, as a mother and as a long lost sister.
“I just wanted to come to terms with the injustice of what happened and use images to find a way of healing my own generational trauma or find a way that I wasn’t angry anymore with what happened in the past.
“I talked a lot with my sister during the process, so it brought us closer and my mum, so rather than keeping it as a story in the background, it was all brought out. For me, it was a healing, therapeutic journey. Although It was 60 years ago, you can't help but be transported back to that time when you think about it, and it isn’t actually that long ago that the nuns and priests ruled Ireland.
“From the time that I found out to the time that ‘Mary’ found my Mum in 2017, Mary, Mary became my way of apologising to my sister for not finding her - that's why it's Mary, Mary. It’s the story about us. It's Mum’s story as well obviously, but it's a story about me finding Deirdre ‘Mary’. A lot of it is about guilt and loss. It is a sad story.
“No matter how old we get, secrets that make you feel ashamed should be talked about because there should have been no shame, stigma, abuse or punishments.
“This project is a photovoice, it's telling a story with photos, to bring out something that can't necessarily be easily said.
“I really hope that anyone that has been affected by the traumas in Ireland or the UK that the exhibition Mary, Mary brings them to a place where they feel that they're able to talk about what happened to them if they want to ( there is an outreach programme for those that can’t travel there) or join the Survivor community. Sean and Katie are liason officers at the Irish Centre and are the most wonderful people to get in touch with ”