The Magdalenes – Imagine if you were abducted and held prisoner against your will: if your possessions were taken, your hair was cut; you were forced to wear a uniform and answer to a new name. For women like Gabrielle O’Gorman who were sent to the Magdalene Institutions in Ireland, this was a reality. Gabrielle tells her story, and revisits the now-derelict Institution she was sent to as a teenager.
This film, made by Nick Carew, was funded by the University of Kent, and completed with the help of the Women’s Studies Centre at University College Dublin who led an Irish Research Council project on the Magdalene Institutions.