Dear Editor,
Concerning Jennifer Bray’s article on the initial compensation payments to more than 450 victims of mother and baby homes (published on the 7th of August), I wish to reflect on my own experience since I was not among the recipients.
In 1947, I was brought into the world at Bethany Home, but I stayed there for less than 180 days, which disqualified me from the reparation scheme.
Subsequently, the authorities at Bethany Home sent me to a foster mother in Tipperary. It was there that I fell victim to malnutrition, developing a severe case of rickets – an illness also known as “skull-cap”, which occurs when the skin of the head folds over the ears.
Later, I came under the Irish Church Mission’s jurisdiction, a social outreach programme attached to the Church of Ireland, where I briefly stayed at a Smyley’s home.
I was then transferred to a family associated with the Irish Church Missions in Northern Ireland. Here, I was derisively referred to as “Paddy from the home”, a nickname that persisted despite Patrick not being my real name. It was here, too, that I routinely suffered physical abuse.
In my teenage years, I found refuge in a treehouse before finally escaping to England at the age of seventeen.
Upon my return to Ireland, I established myself as the founder and creative head of the Tubular Gallery in Cork. In 1978, I further contributed to the artistic community by founding and directing the Triskel Arts Centre in Cork.
After reaching out to him with my story, Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman assured me that I was included in a “wider… Government action plan” and advised me not to “feel excluded”. However, I find this plan rather wanting.
From birth, I was neglected and rejected by the State, a pattern which persists even now, as I struggle to survive on a State pension while my health continues to decline.
I hold the firm belief that words are as inexpensive and insufficient as this compensation scheme proposed by the Minister.
Yours Sincerely,
Patrick Anderson McQuoid
Drumshambo, County Leitrim.