Ulster Magdalene Asylum See also References Navigation menuGovernment, politics and institutions in Belfast in the early 20th centuryOur Parish – St Mary MagdaleneMagdalene Asylum, Donegal PassMagdalene Asylum School, Donegal Pass, Belfast, Co. Antrim.The Emergence of Probation Services in North East IrelandChurch History – Closure of Asylum
1839 establishments in IrelandBuildings and structures demolished in 19181960s disestablishments in Northern IrelandChurch of IrelandHistory of BelfastDefunct prisons in Northern IrelandMagdalene asylumsWomen's prisons in the United Kingdom
Donegall PassBelfastNorthern IrelandChurch of IrelandMagdalene Asylumspregnantprostitutionpetty crimesCharles LanyonGothicGood Shepherd ConventUlster Female PenitentiaryPresbyterian Church
The Ulster Magdalene Asylum was founded in 1839 at Donegall Pass, Belfast (now in Northern Ireland), by the Church of Ireland. Like other Magdalene Asylums it cared for "fallen women".[1] It was founded as part of the St. Mary Magdalene Parish and was to provide an asylum for "penitent females" with a chapel attached and named the Ulster Magdalene Asylum and Episcopal Chapel. It was opened on December 1, 1839.[2] The home operated until the 1960s.[citation needed]
Set up to "rehabilitate" the women, generally women who were pregnant out of wedlock, women involved in prostitution and others convicted of petty crimes. It was described, "For the reception of erring and repentant females".[3] As the residents, in keeping with similar institutions, worked in a laundry, the Asylum was sometimes termed the "steam laundry".
The English architect (and future MP and Mayor of Belfast) Sir Charles Lanyon renowned for many buildings in Ireland, particularly in Belfast, designed a new Gothic styled school and chapel for the Ulster Magdalene Asylum in 1851.[4] The Ulster Magdalene Asylum in Belfast maintained a close relationship with other Protestant evangelical organisations set up in the Victorian era such as the Belfast Midnight Mission (which was a rescue for "unfortunate women and their offspring") as well as the Belfast Female Mission, a School was affiliated to the Asylum run by the Church Education Society these organisations shared members and trustees.
While the Ulster Magdalene Asylum was established by the Church of Ireland, similar institutions in Belfast were established for other denominations such as the Catholic refuge was set up at the Good Shepherd Convent, Ballynafeigh (established in 1867), or the earlier Ulster Female Penitentiary[1] initially non-denominational but became associated with the Presbyterian Church.[5]
The Ulster Magdalene Asylum was closed as a steam laundry in 1916 and demolished in 1918. During its existence from 1849–1916 it supplied shelter, maintenance, employment, instruction and encouragement to upwards of 3,000 women.[6] The Church provided services to women after the closure, as well as other services provided by the Belfast Mission.
See also
- Magdalene laundries in Ireland
References
^ ab Government, politics and institutions in Belfast in the early 20th century, National Archives of Ireland.
^ Our Parish – St Mary Magdalene.
^ Magdalene Asylum, Donegal Pass.
^ Magdalene Asylum School, Donegal Pass, Belfast, Co. Antrim., Irish Architectural Archive.
^ The Emergence of Probation Services in North East Ireland by Brendan Fulton and Bob Webb, Irish Probation Journal, Volume 6, September 2009.
^ Church History – Closure of Asylum, St. Mary Magdalene Church
1839 establishments in Ireland, 1960s disestablishments in Northern Ireland, Buildings and structures demolished in 1918, Church of Ireland, Defunct prisons in Northern Ireland, History of Belfast, Magdalene asylums, Women's prisons in the United KingdomUncategorized
