0:00:02 > 0:00:06This programme contains some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting
0:00:06 > 0:00:08They said that you had abandoned him as a baby.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10I did not abandon my child.
0:00:12 > 0:00:16The Hollywood movie Philomena told the story of one woman's
0:00:16 > 0:00:20search for the son who had been taken away from her as a little boy.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23It moved audiences around the world.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27The success of the film took it all the way to Oscar nominations.
0:00:27 > 0:00:32Even the Pope became aware of the real Philomena's story.
0:00:32 > 0:00:33I am very honoured to meet you.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37'Could I have imagined meeting the Pope one day?'
0:00:37 > 0:00:39No way. No way!
0:00:39 > 0:00:43My name is Martin Sixsmith, and the film was about how
0:00:43 > 0:00:47I helped Philomena in her quest to be reunited with her son.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52But Philomena's story is just the tip of an iceberg.
0:00:53 > 0:00:58In Ireland, thousands of so-called illegitimate children were
0:00:58 > 0:01:01taken from their mothers and sent off for adoption.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05Coming off that plane, I was very scared and frightened
0:01:05 > 0:01:06and felt alone...
0:01:06 > 0:01:09When those children searched for their mothers
0:01:09 > 0:01:13they felt frustrated by the Catholic Church.
0:01:13 > 0:01:19I had to do an actual car chase to track this Sister Sarto down.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22- Catherine...?- Sheehy. - And it was Sheehy?
0:01:22 > 0:01:26- Now, I've a photograph here to show you...- Yes.- ..of Joseph.- Yes.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29And the mothers, too, have struggled.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31SHE EXHALES SHARPLY
0:01:31 > 0:01:33It's so hard.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39This is my journey to discover the true scale of a scandal
0:01:39 > 0:01:41that has affected so many lives.
0:01:42 > 0:01:47I finally found the truth - that I was never unwanted.
0:01:47 > 0:01:48That I was never abandoned.
0:02:07 > 0:02:12Philomena is the story of a young woman in 1950s Ireland
0:02:12 > 0:02:14who fell pregnant outside marriage.
0:02:17 > 0:02:18She was taken to a convent
0:02:18 > 0:02:22and forced to give up the baby for adoption in America.
0:02:24 > 0:02:2750 years later, Philomena and I set out to try
0:02:27 > 0:02:29and track down her son.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36Although we discovered her son Anthony tragically had died,
0:02:36 > 0:02:40the search turned out to be a life-changing experience for both
0:02:40 > 0:02:41Philomena and for me.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47And after the film came out, I was contacted by others with
0:02:47 > 0:02:49similar stories to tell -
0:02:49 > 0:02:53by mothers of children taken by the Catholic Church
0:02:53 > 0:02:57and by the adopted children themselves now seeking answers.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02I'm going on a journey which will take me from Ireland to America
0:03:02 > 0:03:05to investigate the extent of the scandal.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11'My journey started in rural Ireland
0:03:11 > 0:03:13'at the home of a woman called Lily Boyce.'
0:03:16 > 0:03:20- Hello, Lily?- Hello.- Martin Sixsmith. Hello.- Pleased to meet you, Martin.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22Lovely to meet you, Lily.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26'Just like Philomena, Lily grew up in Ireland in the 1950s,
0:03:26 > 0:03:30'when the Catholic Church dominated most aspects of life.
0:03:30 > 0:03:32'She's never spoken out before.'
0:03:35 > 0:03:38Sex wasn't... you didn't really know really what it was,
0:03:38 > 0:03:42cos it was never, never, eh, explained to you.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46But I was pregnant and ignorant and didn't know I was pregnant.
0:03:46 > 0:03:51And I suppose maybe six or eight months and, you know, kind of
0:03:51 > 0:03:54then knew there was something funny going on, and, yes, kind of...
0:03:55 > 0:03:57..so I had to be pregnant.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05In a world where sex outside marriage was absolutely forbidden,
0:04:05 > 0:04:09Lily, then 18, kept her secret as long as she could.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12What do I do, like, I mean, who do I tell,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15and I'm afraid to tell the anybody, not even the father did I tell.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17Afraid to tell my mother.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23As she went into labour, her mother discovered what Lily had been
0:04:23 > 0:04:24hiding from her.
0:04:26 > 0:04:31My mother said, er, you'd better gather your stuff up and she said,
0:04:31 > 0:04:33"Get out of here."
0:04:33 > 0:04:36So, er, we started off... I didn't actually know where I was
0:04:36 > 0:04:40going, so we landed in Castlepollard
0:04:40 > 0:04:42on a very snowy morning.
0:04:42 > 0:04:47And when she got me a couple of yards from the door she said,
0:04:47 > 0:04:49"Now you can do your own dirty work."
0:04:52 > 0:04:56Lily's mother had left her on the steps of Castlepollard,
0:04:56 > 0:04:59a home run by the Catholic Church
0:04:59 > 0:05:02where unmarried mothers were hiddenaway in shame
0:05:02 > 0:05:03to have their children.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10Lily gave birth to Joseph the next day in the home.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13What can you remember about him?
0:05:13 > 0:05:15He was a lovable child.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18Like, you really bonded with him. Yeah, sort of like it was...
0:05:18 > 0:05:20SHE EXHALES SHARPLY
0:05:20 > 0:05:21..so hard.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38The women in the home were stripped of their identities
0:05:38 > 0:05:41and given names by the nuns.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43Lily became Ursula.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47When you're in there, there was nothing you could do
0:05:47 > 0:05:52because you're under a false name, you couldn't write out,
0:05:52 > 0:05:55nor, like, I mean, you couldn't make contact with
0:05:55 > 0:05:57the outside world without being monitored.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02The nuns who ran the home were unforgiving to the young women
0:06:02 > 0:06:04in their charge.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09You just felt, you know, you're a fallen person and
0:06:09 > 0:06:13that bit of meat that wasn't wanted or whatever, you know,
0:06:13 > 0:06:15so nobody... nobody cared.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17- You felt like a piece of meat? - Yeah.
0:06:20 > 0:06:21That no-one cared about.
0:06:23 > 0:06:24THEY SING
0:06:28 > 0:06:31- FILM REEL: - The Republic of Ireland is the most Catholic country in the world.
0:06:31 > 0:06:3595% of its people are of the Roman Catholic faith.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43As the highest moral authority in Ireland,
0:06:43 > 0:06:48the Catholic Church was obsessed with sex and its regulation.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50Contraception was illegal.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53Chastity, the Church said, was the only protection
0:06:53 > 0:06:58for young women from the mortal sin of sex outside marriage.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06If you can control sexuality, you can control the person.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10And, of course, the morals of the Catholic Church intruded
0:07:10 > 0:07:13into the bedrooms of Ireland for generations.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16They wanted to control everything that happened in the bedroom.
0:07:19 > 0:07:24In 1950s Ireland, the Church and State were inextricably linked
0:07:24 > 0:07:26in a way that is hard for us to understand today.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33The Church policed every aspect of life - both public and private.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43The State relied on the Church to take unmarried mothers,
0:07:43 > 0:07:48known as fallen women, into its mother and baby homes.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51The worst possible thing that could happen in a family was that
0:07:51 > 0:07:54a girl would get pregnant.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57The son could get other girls pregnant,
0:07:57 > 0:08:00you know, it's a bit of trouble, but if the daughter in the house got
0:08:00 > 0:08:05pregnant outside marriage, this was a disaster, a social disaster.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10The family itself would practically be ostracised,
0:08:10 > 0:08:15so the girls would be taken away from their home, sent to the nuns
0:08:15 > 0:08:17in some awful convent somewhere,
0:08:17 > 0:08:2060,000 girls just disappeared.
0:08:24 > 0:08:29There was little question of the illegitimate children staying with their mothers.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33Instead, they were given up for adoption by the nuns.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36The young women involved
0:08:36 > 0:08:38very often didn't give consent.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41Where they did give consent, there's a serious question as to
0:08:41 > 0:08:45whether it was properly informed consent, and the State, I think,
0:08:45 > 0:08:49went along with that almost entirely because the State did not want
0:08:49 > 0:08:53to do anything what would anger or upset or annoy the Catholic Church.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02Lily knew her child was going to be taken away from her.
0:09:03 > 0:09:08'If the nuns said, yeah, it was going to America, it was going to America.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10'I would have loved to have kept him.'
0:09:11 > 0:09:14The more I had him, the...the harder it was,
0:09:14 > 0:09:16like, to give him up.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22Cos you really had bonded then with him.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26After 17 months of caring for her son,
0:09:26 > 0:09:30the time came for Lily to give Joseph away.
0:09:30 > 0:09:35My last memory of Joseph, I was told, "Joseph is going in the morning."
0:09:35 > 0:09:38So you go over and you had dressed Joseph.
0:09:39 > 0:09:44And he was dressed in his little beige coat
0:09:44 > 0:09:46and brown trousers
0:09:46 > 0:09:48and little shoes.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50And then he was taken over
0:09:50 > 0:09:54by Sister Aiden to the front hall of the convent.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57And while she got up at the top, I was only allowed to wave
0:09:57 > 0:09:59to him at the bottom of the stairs.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01That was the last I seen of Joseph.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13It was an image that would haunt Lily in the decades that followed.
0:10:15 > 0:10:16I'm Joseph's mother.
0:10:24 > 0:10:25Not the fallen one.
0:10:28 > 0:10:29Not the fallen one.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45The Church was paid by the State for housing the mothers and children
0:10:45 > 0:10:49but the adoption process could also be a source of revenue.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56Transporting the children to America was a costly process,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59as these records in the Irish National Archive show.
0:11:00 > 0:11:05Here we have our expenses for going to New York in 1952.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08The nurse going tourist class would cost 241.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12One infant over two years, 50% of the fare, 120.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15One infant under two years, 10% of the fare.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17Dublin Shannon via car 40.
0:11:17 > 0:11:24Em, tax, 8, so total cost to each sponsor - 220.80.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26It's a lot of money.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30So that goes again to the social status and income of
0:11:30 > 0:11:34the adopting parents, who could afford to pay that kind of money
0:11:34 > 0:11:36to have the children sent abroad.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40That's where you then come down to the question of, these people
0:11:40 > 0:11:44were always going to be good for donations and good for paying
0:11:44 > 0:11:49un-itemised invoices, which are in effect charging for the adoption.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54Directly selling babies wasn't allowed
0:11:54 > 0:11:58but it was common for the nuns to accept substantial donations
0:11:58 > 0:12:00from adoptive parents.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04I've looked at a number of cases in some detail where you can see that
0:12:04 > 0:12:08over the, um, first few years of an adoption people would pay
0:12:08 > 0:12:11the initial invoice that they got and then they
0:12:11 > 0:12:12would make a number of donations.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15And this would amount to hundreds of dollars.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19That would be thousands of pounds in today's money.
0:12:21 > 0:12:26The nuns were using what looks like a marketing strategy.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29The children in the homes were photographed to attract couples
0:12:29 > 0:12:34who would provide good homes - as well as handsome donations for the convents.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40Some American adopters travelled to Ireland
0:12:40 > 0:12:43but astonishingly, many children were taken
0:12:43 > 0:12:47without their new parents ever stepping foot in the country.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00The children from Ireland were sent to all four corners of America.
0:13:07 > 0:13:08Philomena's son, Anthony,
0:13:08 > 0:13:12had died by the time we discovered his identity.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16But many of Ireland's lost children are of course still alive
0:13:16 > 0:13:21so I headed to the US to find out what had become of some of them.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27My first stop was Florida.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32SAT NAV: You have reached your destination.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35'I'd tracked down a woman who had arrived in America
0:13:35 > 0:13:37'as a child in 1958.'
0:13:43 > 0:13:45- Hello?- Hello, Cathy.- Hello, Martin.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47- Martin.- Hi, how are you?
0:13:47 > 0:13:50- Very pleased to meet you. - You look so different...than on TV.
0:13:50 > 0:13:55- Yes.- You're better looking! - Thank you!- Oh. Nice to meet you.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00Let's see what we've got.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02- This is you, isn't it?- Yes.
0:14:02 > 0:14:04OK. So where's that taken, Cathy?
0:14:04 > 0:14:06That's at the Sacred Heart, Bessbro
0:14:06 > 0:14:09and that's what I call one of the "prop shots".
0:14:09 > 0:14:11So it's a prop shot because it's posed?
0:14:11 > 0:14:13- To make you look a happy little... - Most definitely.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15They told me to sit there.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21In 1957, an American couple -
0:14:21 > 0:14:24who had been turned down as adoptive parents in the US -
0:14:24 > 0:14:26contacted the nuns in Ireland.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30They were sent photos of the four-year-old Cathy.
0:14:32 > 0:14:33They wanted a female
0:14:33 > 0:14:37as a companion for their older daughter
0:14:37 > 0:14:39and to be four or five years old.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41So they had a preference.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44They did it all by mail.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47They didn't fly to and pick out a baby.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49So you were literally a mail order child.
0:14:49 > 0:14:50Yeah! Uh-huh.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53- You were bought from a catalogue. - Exactly!
0:14:59 > 0:15:03Cathy says her adoptive parents paid the nuns for a courier
0:15:03 > 0:15:05to bring her to New York, where they lived.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13Coming off that plane, I was very scared and frightened.
0:15:13 > 0:15:15And felt alone.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22This footage is of Cathy on her first days in New York.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26My hands were held by my sister and my mother.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31And I just followed them on to a new journey.
0:15:31 > 0:15:32I was in a whole new world.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39I had everything I could've wanted for or asked for.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41Love and affection from my mother and sister was,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44you know, was just something else.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49UPBEAT '60s MUSIC
0:15:54 > 0:15:56Cathy had a classic American upbringing
0:15:56 > 0:15:59as part of a large and happy family.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08She received a good education and dreamed of becoming a nurse.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14I became a Red Cross volunteer, and on weekends my mother would
0:16:14 > 0:16:16take me to the local hospital.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18And I had my little uniform.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27But Cathy's happy childhood began to go wrong
0:16:27 > 0:16:32when her sister Dolores left their New York home to go to college.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36She decided to move to California.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39And, um... My parents went through, I think,
0:16:39 > 0:16:41an empty nest syndrome.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43And they missed her so much, you know.
0:16:44 > 0:16:49With her sister gone, Cathy felt that her father turned against her.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53She says he refused to send her to college.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56He said, "By the way, you know, we had a college fund for you
0:16:56 > 0:16:58"but we spent it.
0:16:58 > 0:17:03"And we intend to continue spending it, and we're going on a cruise
0:17:03 > 0:17:06"and we want you out of the house by 18."
0:17:11 > 0:17:14A mail order adopted child, it seemed,
0:17:14 > 0:17:17wasn't regarded as a commitment for life.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22Her parents sold their home
0:17:22 > 0:17:26and set out for California to be with their biological daughter.
0:17:27 > 0:17:32It was horrible to say goodbye, cos they...they were the ones
0:17:32 > 0:17:37who said hello to me, you know, when I got off the plane from Ireland.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39And now they're saying goodbye.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44And, uh, even though I was supposed to be older, I guess,
0:17:44 > 0:17:47and get over it, like now it hurts, it still hurts.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58The pain of rejection would finally lead Cathy to try
0:17:58 > 0:18:02and find out about her roots, and to look for her birth mother.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06Let me see where I'm connected.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09Let me go find my roots.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12Is my mother alive? Let me go meet her.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14You know, let me find her.
0:18:26 > 0:18:31It's thought that around 2,000 Irish babies like Cathy were sent
0:18:31 > 0:18:35to the United States during the 1950s and '60s.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46My next stop was the west coast of America, to find a man whose
0:18:46 > 0:18:51adoption raises some disturbing questions about what safeguards
0:18:51 > 0:18:54were put in place to protect these children.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00- Hello, Mike?- Hello. Martin.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03- Pleased to meet you.- Good to meet you. My wife Susan.- Hello, Susan.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05Martin. Hello, pleased to meet you.
0:19:05 > 0:19:12In 1961, Mike Hawkes and his twin sister were brought to Saratoga in California.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17It wasn't a mail order adoption.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21An American Catholic priest - Monsignor Benjamin Hawkes -
0:19:21 > 0:19:24identified the children in a Catholic Church-run home
0:19:24 > 0:19:28in Ireland and delivered them to his own brother for adoption.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34They were extremely orthodox Catholic. Good people in that
0:19:34 > 0:19:39they put forward a home and clothes and shelter.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44And, ah... but very strict along the line.
0:19:45 > 0:19:50Just like Cathy, Mike's American life started out pretty well.
0:19:51 > 0:19:52They told their friends.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56They told their acquaintances that came to the home that we were
0:19:56 > 0:19:58two adopted children from Ireland.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01And we were cute little buggers. I'll be honest.
0:20:03 > 0:20:08I'd say that we were probably comfortable together in public
0:20:08 > 0:20:10and got along seemingly very well.
0:20:18 > 0:20:23But as they grew up, the twins rebelled against their parents' strict rules,
0:20:23 > 0:20:28and their adoptions became the subject of rows and recrimination.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32My sister was told that, er, it was unfortunate that she was adopted.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36And you... Maybe you heard the words that "you won't amount to much".
0:20:40 > 0:20:46In the background, the priest who'd brought Mike to California, Monsignor Benjamin Hawkes,
0:20:46 > 0:20:49continued to play a significant role in his life.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56He kept a very tight rein on what you were doing.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02My uncle was very strong-willed.
0:21:02 > 0:21:07And, er, going against that will was not healthy.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11Not healthy.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17Hawkes had become a powerful figure in the Church hierarchy.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23I believe The Times called him, at one point in time,
0:21:23 > 0:21:26one of the ten most influential people in Los Angeles.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30But the Monsignor had a secret life.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34The individual led two lives.
0:21:35 > 0:21:42He led a life full of culture as a priest...
0:21:42 > 0:21:47and he led a life as a paedophile or manipulator.
0:21:49 > 0:21:54After his death in 1985, a number of men came forward to say that
0:21:54 > 0:21:57Monsignor Hawkes had abused them as children.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01It's a brutal way to live your life.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04But yet because of that,
0:22:04 > 0:22:07his affliction is inflicted on other people.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10Where the individuals have just...
0:22:10 > 0:22:12Lives have been completely destroyed.
0:22:16 > 0:22:22The revelations about Monsignor Hawkes cast a shadow over Mike's adoption.
0:22:22 > 0:22:27In later life he would seek answers about the circumstances of his case.
0:22:31 > 0:22:36The fact that a paedophile priest appeared to have access to young children
0:22:36 > 0:22:40raises grave questions about the whole adoption process.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44Just how were those involved vetted?
0:22:48 > 0:22:52The Irish Church set up its own vetting system
0:22:52 > 0:22:55that relied on local Catholic organisations in America
0:22:55 > 0:22:59to assess the suitability of prospective adopters.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04The first requirement was that they be Catholics
0:23:04 > 0:23:08and that meant that they had to be able to show, through their priests,
0:23:08 > 0:23:10that they were practising.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13Another requirement was that they be wealthy.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17They had to make full declarations of their income.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19And I'd say those were the two
0:23:19 > 0:23:21primary concerns - religion and money.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28Catholic Charities was the organisation in America
0:23:28 > 0:23:31that the Church had chosen to carry out the vetting
0:23:31 > 0:23:33of prospective parents.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37Catholic Charities, by its own admission, wasn't up to that job,
0:23:37 > 0:23:40and confessed, very late in the day, that they didn't actually have
0:23:40 > 0:23:42the personnel, they didn't have the systems,
0:23:42 > 0:23:43they didn't have the resources.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46And in many states they weren't even legally registered
0:23:46 > 0:23:47as adoption agencies.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59I had heard about a case that might reveal
0:23:59 > 0:24:02some of the workings of the whole adoption system.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07Well, we've come out here to the beautiful
0:24:07 > 0:24:10mountains of western Massachusetts on a hunch, really.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14We're looking for one Irish girl who was adopted in the 1950s.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27- Good day. - Hello, Mary.
0:24:27 > 0:24:29Martin Sixsmith from BBC Television.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31- It's a pleasure, sir. - Very pleased to meet you.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34- Nice to meet you, please come in. - Thank you.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38The beginning of Mary Monaghan's story followed a familiar pattern.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43My mother was a fallen woman, therefore I'm the spawn of the devil.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48I really do not remember a lot, but you have feelings,
0:24:48 > 0:24:49you know, and, erm...
0:24:51 > 0:24:55..you still can feel it, sort of just being ripped away, you know?
0:24:57 > 0:25:00Even though you don't necessarily remember the physicality.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04But, you know, it's an emotional thing.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10'Mary has managed to track down some
0:25:10 > 0:25:13'of the original documents relating to her adoption.'
0:25:14 > 0:25:17Could you just read that paragraph to us, because it's a very...
0:25:17 > 0:25:18Right.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21"I hereby relinquish full claim forever to my child
0:25:21 > 0:25:25"Mary Theresa Monaghan born on the 7th day of
0:25:25 > 0:25:31"October 1950 and I undertake never to make any claim to said child."
0:25:31 > 0:25:33Gosh! That's quite a...
0:25:33 > 0:25:35That's quite a heart-rending document, isn't it?
0:25:35 > 0:25:37You're giving away your child to someone.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39I know, it's just...
0:25:39 > 0:25:41It's medieval.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48According to the Church's policy, the Catholic Welfare Bureau
0:25:48 > 0:25:51was responsible for vetting the couple who wanted
0:25:51 > 0:25:54to adopt Mary - Mr and Mrs O'Brien.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01But Mary has discovered a document that shows
0:26:01 > 0:26:04that only Mrs O'Brien was ever spoken to.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10Mrs O'Brien clearly was a nice person.
0:26:10 > 0:26:11Oh, indeed, she was.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13- She would pass their test. - Indeed.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20William O'Brien had adopted a child before in America.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24But he wasn't spoken to by the Catholic Welfare Bureau
0:26:24 > 0:26:26in relation to adopting Mary.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30Nevertheless, she was taken from her mother by the nuns
0:26:30 > 0:26:34and handed over to William O'Brien to be transported to America.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41From the start, Mary struggled to adapt to her new life.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44I would be ill and I had all kinds of allergies
0:26:44 > 0:26:48and I'd break out, because I was allergic to food!
0:26:49 > 0:26:54From the outside, their family life in Huntington Park, California,
0:26:54 > 0:26:55seemed normal.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59Like many of the families given Irish children to adopt,
0:26:59 > 0:27:01the O'Briens were prosperous
0:27:01 > 0:27:04and respected within their local Catholic community.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10And what are your memories of that period, of your childhood?
0:27:10 > 0:27:11Ah...
0:27:13 > 0:27:16My memories are terrible, to tell you the truth.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20I was physically punished for not being able to eat.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23And if I did anything like a little child does,
0:27:23 > 0:27:25like wet the bed...
0:27:25 > 0:27:28I'd be...
0:27:28 > 0:27:29literally put in the toilet.
0:27:31 > 0:27:36And then the sexual abuse began very soon after that and
0:27:36 > 0:27:38it just progressed.
0:27:38 > 0:27:43I had to be kept in my little routine, as it were.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47So I wouldn't try to break away.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50It's all systematic and it's...
0:27:50 > 0:27:53I mean, it's serious...
0:27:53 > 0:27:55very serious paedophile thinking.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00Mary had been placed in the care of a monster.
0:28:02 > 0:28:08Throughout her childhood she was abused by her adoptive father.
0:28:08 > 0:28:09Was there no way that you could
0:28:09 > 0:28:12reach out for help outside the family?
0:28:13 > 0:28:19I could not perceive of any way of doing it, just to protect myself.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24Because if it was known that I tried to do that,
0:28:24 > 0:28:27I don't think I'd probably live to see another day,
0:28:27 > 0:28:29and that's not an exaggeration.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34And this was being done to you by the one person you should be able
0:28:34 > 0:28:37to trust and who should be there to protect you.
0:28:37 > 0:28:38Correct. Correct.
0:28:40 > 0:28:41And he had the world fooled.
0:28:55 > 0:28:59The more you talk to the children who were sent out here to America,
0:28:59 > 0:29:00and there were hundreds of them,
0:29:00 > 0:29:04the more you realise what a lottery the whole system was.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07Some of the children had happy lives with the families they were
0:29:07 > 0:29:09sent to, but many of them didn't
0:29:09 > 0:29:13and some of them were physically and sexually abused.
0:29:22 > 0:29:26What their stories show, just like Philomena and her son,
0:29:26 > 0:29:31is that many of the mothers and their children feel an overwhelming need to find answers
0:29:31 > 0:29:33about their lives.
0:29:36 > 0:29:39But over the decades that followed the adoptions,
0:29:39 > 0:29:43it was to prove almost impossible to find those answers.
0:29:55 > 0:30:00By the early 1970s, the export of Irish children to America
0:30:00 > 0:30:02for adoption had come to an end.
0:30:02 > 0:30:04Lord, have mercy...
0:30:04 > 0:30:08In 1973, the government introduced a new,
0:30:08 > 0:30:10unmarried mothers' allowance that meant
0:30:10 > 0:30:13women could afford to raise their own children.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15..seeds of wisdom...
0:30:15 > 0:30:20It's estimated that by then there had been around 40,000
0:30:20 > 0:30:24to 60,000 adoptions, most within Ireland itself.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28But wherever they'd been adopted, these were mothers and children
0:30:28 > 0:30:32who might one day start looking for each other.
0:30:32 > 0:30:35..health of the weak, refuge of sinners...
0:30:37 > 0:30:39Now, coming for a walkie?
0:30:39 > 0:30:40Coming for a walkie?
0:30:40 > 0:30:44In the meantime, people got on with their lives.
0:30:46 > 0:30:50Lily, who gave up her son Joseph to be adopted to America,
0:30:50 > 0:30:53eventually married the boy's father.
0:30:53 > 0:30:58But they kept it secret that they'd had a child out of wedlock.
0:30:58 > 0:31:01If anybody asked me, "Have you any family?" and I always said, "No,"
0:31:01 > 0:31:03I was always in denial, "No".
0:31:04 > 0:31:06The shame would have been there.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10Lily never forgot her son.
0:31:11 > 0:31:15- Now, I have a photograph here to show you of Joseph.- Yes.
0:31:15 > 0:31:16That's Joseph.
0:31:16 > 0:31:21- That is very precious to me that I have that photograph.- Yes.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23- And then there's a little surprise.- Ah.
0:31:25 > 0:31:28Oh, my goodness, what's... Let me put my glasses on.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31This is the tag of his cot.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33Yes, oh, let me see.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36And it definitely brings back the memories, like, I mean, of all the...
0:31:36 > 0:31:39Gosh, yes, it's got his name on it, his date of birth and...
0:31:39 > 0:31:40Yes.
0:31:46 > 0:31:52It took 28 years for Lily to confront the stigma of her past
0:31:52 > 0:31:55and pluck up the courage to write to the Church
0:31:55 > 0:31:57to see if they could help her track down her son.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04But she didn't get any information from the nuns.
0:32:04 > 0:32:06I wouldn't have got his...
0:32:06 > 0:32:12They didn't give me his parents' name or nothing.
0:32:12 > 0:32:13I got none of that.
0:32:15 > 0:32:17Mary, hiya.
0:32:17 > 0:32:20Around the same time Lily was looking for her son, there was
0:32:20 > 0:32:24a breakthrough in the whole adoption story.
0:32:24 > 0:32:29In 1996, an archivist was reviewing Irish government records
0:32:29 > 0:32:34when she stumbled across secret files on the American adoptions.
0:32:34 > 0:32:38- This is our lovely reading room where everyone finds out things about Irish history.- Yes.
0:32:38 > 0:32:43I went downstairs here in our repository and found 2,000 files.
0:32:43 > 0:32:48Six of them, these files here that deal with the policy behind the
0:32:48 > 0:32:52system of adoption of Irish children in America and the others, almost
0:32:52 > 0:32:552,000 of them, dealing with the case files.
0:32:55 > 0:33:00The files revealed that government officials were granting the nuns
0:33:00 > 0:33:04the passports they needed to get the children out of the country.
0:33:06 > 0:33:08"Irish passports, issued to children
0:33:08 > 0:33:11"to enable to leave Ireland for legal adoption abroad,
0:33:11 > 0:33:12"nearly all in the USA.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15"The children concerned were almost all invariably Catholics and of
0:33:15 > 0:33:17"illegitimate birth and were over one year of age.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20"Figures for the proceeding five years were as follows:
0:33:20 > 0:33:22"1952 - 193.
0:33:22 > 0:33:23"1953 - 128.
0:33:23 > 0:33:25"1954 - 182.
0:33:25 > 0:33:27"1955 - 184.
0:33:27 > 0:33:29"1956 - 111."
0:33:31 > 0:33:35The files revealed the scale of the American adoptions.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39But the documents identifying individual cases were held
0:33:39 > 0:33:43in secret by the Catholic institutions involved
0:33:43 > 0:33:45and by the Irish state.
0:33:45 > 0:33:47This meant it was impossible for the people
0:33:47 > 0:33:51searching to obtain the information they needed.
0:33:52 > 0:33:57In a lot of cases, as in Philomena's case, the child and the mother
0:33:57 > 0:34:00had been looking for each other and the nuns to whom they had turned
0:34:00 > 0:34:03had not brought them together but had forced them apart again,
0:34:03 > 0:34:06by telling them lies, by deceiving them,
0:34:06 > 0:34:08by misinforming them, whatever you want to call it.
0:34:08 > 0:34:12They have perpetrated the wrongs that they did in the first place.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17The Church says it was often prevented from helping
0:34:17 > 0:34:19by confidentiality laws.
0:34:19 > 0:34:23Frustrated after four years of seeking answers from the nuns
0:34:23 > 0:34:25and the Irish government,
0:34:25 > 0:34:29Lily asked for help from a search agency in America.
0:34:29 > 0:34:33Within months they had tracked her son down.
0:34:33 > 0:34:37Lily wrote to him, and a few weeks later received a reply.
0:34:37 > 0:34:44"I cannot imagine how hard it must have been for you to spend that
0:34:44 > 0:34:50"much time with me before you had to give me up and I respect your
0:34:50 > 0:34:56"decision that you have made, and I have no resentment towards you."
0:34:56 > 0:34:59And the sad thing is that that came in 1999
0:34:59 > 0:35:02- and we're 15 years on. - That's right, yeah.
0:35:02 > 0:35:03That seemed like a breakthrough
0:35:03 > 0:35:05- but it didn't lead to you finding him.- No, it didn't.
0:35:05 > 0:35:07No, it didn't, no.
0:35:16 > 0:35:21Sadly for Lily, Joseph didn't continue the correspondence,
0:35:21 > 0:35:24and at the time, she felt she had to give up her quest.
0:35:25 > 0:35:29I didn't want to hurt the parents and he was very protective
0:35:29 > 0:35:33of his parents, you know, like when he had stressed that in a letter,
0:35:33 > 0:35:35that, yeah, he was very...
0:35:35 > 0:35:38He didn't want anyone annoying them, you know, so...
0:35:46 > 0:35:50And it wasn't just the mothers who were looking for answers.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53By the 1990s, many of the adopted children
0:35:53 > 0:35:55had begun their own searches.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03Cathy Deasey was one of then,
0:36:03 > 0:36:07and from 1989 she began writing to Sister Sarto Harney,
0:36:07 > 0:36:11the nun in charge of records from three of the main homes
0:36:11 > 0:36:12that sent children to America.
0:36:16 > 0:36:21Like many of the adoptees, Cathy found Sister Sarto unhelpful
0:36:21 > 0:36:23and says she was frustrated
0:36:23 > 0:36:26by a letter she received from her in 2002.
0:36:28 > 0:36:30She told me in a letter that, "Your mother's probably dead so
0:36:30 > 0:36:32"why are you continuing the search?"
0:36:35 > 0:36:39Finally, Cathy located a group of Irish adoptees
0:36:39 > 0:36:43who had some experience of searches like hers.
0:36:43 > 0:36:48With their help, the mystery of her mother's whereabouts was solved.
0:36:49 > 0:36:51I was all excited.
0:36:51 > 0:36:56I called about ten friends, I said, "My God, I've found my mother."
0:36:56 > 0:36:59And they said just, "Best of luck", you know,
0:36:59 > 0:37:05"Be gentle", you know, and, "Good luck and we're all with you."
0:37:07 > 0:37:11Within weeks, Cathy was preparing to set off for Ireland
0:37:11 > 0:37:15with a friend for the first time since she'd left as a child.
0:37:15 > 0:37:19It was good that I had my best friend with me, because I didn't know
0:37:19 > 0:37:23how to drive, on the wrong side of the road,
0:37:23 > 0:37:28and we were escorted by my family and then we drove to the house
0:37:28 > 0:37:29where my mother was.
0:37:31 > 0:37:34- How are you? - OK, not too bad.
0:37:34 > 0:37:35Good.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39- I'm your daughter.- Uh? - I'm your daughter.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42- Yeah.- Yeah.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45- So I still have the same red hair? - Huh?
0:37:45 > 0:37:48I have the red hair.
0:37:48 > 0:37:54'There she was, this little lady, who was my mother.'
0:37:54 > 0:37:58It was the happiest moment of my life, you know?
0:37:58 > 0:38:04And she was smiling and you could see the joy in her eyes.
0:38:07 > 0:38:12Cathy discovered that after she had been sent to America, her mother
0:38:12 > 0:38:16had spent another 35 years in an institution
0:38:16 > 0:38:19run by the Catholic Church, a few miles away from
0:38:19 > 0:38:22the mother and baby home where Cathy was born.
0:38:23 > 0:38:28It was a miracle to be with her and that she was alive.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31I won't forget about you.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34'Whenever she said that it broke her heart'
0:38:34 > 0:38:38that she... I was taken from her...
0:38:38 > 0:38:40that, to me,
0:38:40 > 0:38:44those were very hard words but it was the truth.
0:38:44 > 0:38:49And I finally found the truth that I was never unwanted.
0:38:49 > 0:38:51That I was never abandoned.
0:38:51 > 0:38:52Never.
0:38:58 > 0:39:02Finally reunited with her mother, Cathy wanted answers
0:39:02 > 0:39:05from the nun in charge of the records
0:39:05 > 0:39:08who she felt had been so unhelpful to her search.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11She headed back to the home where she was born.
0:39:13 > 0:39:16'I had to do an actual car chase to track
0:39:16 > 0:39:18'this Sister Sarto down.'
0:39:18 > 0:39:19That's her!
0:39:21 > 0:39:23I was knocking on the door.
0:39:23 > 0:39:25'We went in the front door
0:39:25 > 0:39:28'and I confronted her and she said she didn't know
0:39:28 > 0:39:29'anything about my file.'
0:39:29 > 0:39:32- Can I have your name?- Catherine. - Catherine what?
0:39:32 > 0:39:34Cathy Deseay. And it was Sheehey.
0:39:34 > 0:39:36- Johanna Sheehey was my mother.- Yes.
0:39:36 > 0:39:38You see, we're dealing with hundreds.
0:39:38 > 0:39:41I'll have to look up the reference number.
0:39:41 > 0:39:43'I said I lived here, I was born here.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46'I've been writing to you for so long.'
0:39:46 > 0:39:50It's an awful shame that you didn't make contact with us,
0:39:50 > 0:39:54that we would have made preparations for your visit.
0:39:54 > 0:39:58'I said, "I found my mother. My mother's alive."
0:39:58 > 0:40:01I said, "I had tea with her this morning."
0:40:01 > 0:40:03Cathy felt the nuns could have given her
0:40:03 > 0:40:08the information she needed about her mother right from the start.
0:40:08 > 0:40:10'She was right down the street.'
0:40:10 > 0:40:12All those years I had no idea where she is.
0:40:12 > 0:40:14They knew where she was.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18After a brief look through the records
0:40:18 > 0:40:22Sister Sarto found Cathy's file, including the letters
0:40:22 > 0:40:25Cathy had been sending her, asking for help.
0:40:25 > 0:40:29Catherine! There I am. And there's my letters.
0:40:29 > 0:40:31- You've got the whole file! - Right.- Very good.
0:40:36 > 0:40:41Cathy's mother died in 2009, seven years after she'd found her.
0:40:43 > 0:40:46I innocently just wanted to find my mother.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50And the sad part is, I could have met my mother sooner.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52Maybe she would have been in better health.
0:40:52 > 0:40:54I would have had a longer time with her.
0:40:57 > 0:40:59Oh, that's tomorrow.
0:40:59 > 0:41:04I asked the nuns, the Order Of The Sacred Hearts Of Jesus And Mary,
0:41:04 > 0:41:07about why they failed to give Cathy more information
0:41:07 > 0:41:09about her birth mother.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12They said they understood how disappointing and frustrating
0:41:12 > 0:41:16it must have been, but that they couldn't give out information
0:41:16 > 0:41:18because of confidentiality laws.
0:41:18 > 0:41:20And then we'll see where I was born.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28Now, here we are, this is an interesting one.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32You're sitting here with the mother superior
0:41:32 > 0:41:36and you're not looking happy again there, Mike, are you?
0:41:36 > 0:41:39I tried. I really tried to put on a good face.
0:41:43 > 0:41:48Mike Hawkes's search for his mother had an even sadder outcome.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56In 1996 he asked St Patrick's Guild,
0:41:56 > 0:41:59the Catholic adoption agency in Ireland that had handled his case,
0:41:59 > 0:42:01for information about his mother.
0:42:05 > 0:42:07Over the next year and a half he got nothing
0:42:07 > 0:42:12from them that would help him find his mother.
0:42:12 > 0:42:17Then, in 1998, the nuns wrote to Mike with bad news.
0:42:17 > 0:42:19"I rang your birth mother's home,
0:42:19 > 0:42:24"and unfortunately she passed away in October of last year."
0:42:26 > 0:42:29So you'd asked for this information which they clearly had
0:42:29 > 0:42:32- when she was clearly still alive. - Precisely.
0:42:32 > 0:42:34Quite honestly,
0:42:34 > 0:42:38they knew where she was and could have gathered the information
0:42:38 > 0:42:40with a telephone call in that day.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46Even after learning of his mother's death,
0:42:46 > 0:42:49Mike was keen to find out more about her.
0:42:52 > 0:42:56He tracked down a cousin in Ireland who managed to find a photo.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01This one is your birth mother.
0:43:01 > 0:43:03This is actually my birth mother.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06We don't know exactly how old she was in this picture so
0:43:06 > 0:43:07therefore when it was taken.
0:43:07 > 0:43:10- I can see the family resemblance immediately.- Right.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13- And her name was? - Her name was Betty.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18BAGPIPES PLAY
0:43:21 > 0:43:24It's St Patrick's Day in Dublin.
0:43:30 > 0:43:35It's Mike's first visit to the country since he was taken away
0:43:35 > 0:43:38from his mother more than 50 years ago.
0:43:38 > 0:43:40IRISH BAND PLAYS
0:43:44 > 0:43:47Look at the street! Good heavens!
0:43:47 > 0:43:50This is absolutely gorgeous.
0:43:53 > 0:43:56His cousin has helped find his mother's grave.
0:44:11 > 0:44:14- That's very nice. - It's very beautiful.
0:44:21 > 0:44:25I'm a changed man to be able to simply pay tribute to her
0:44:25 > 0:44:27at her grave.
0:44:27 > 0:44:29She's a good person...
0:44:29 > 0:44:31She was a good person,
0:44:31 > 0:44:35and her family attest to that, and I think it's very important
0:44:35 > 0:44:40to find family members that knew your family
0:44:40 > 0:44:42when you can't meet them, when you don't...
0:44:42 > 0:44:43aren't allowed to meet them.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53The Nuns Of St Patrick's Guild declined
0:44:53 > 0:44:56to be interviewed for this programme, but they told me
0:44:56 > 0:44:59they help everyone looking for information
0:44:59 > 0:45:02about their adoption to the very best of their ability.
0:45:05 > 0:45:07They did agree to see Mike
0:45:07 > 0:45:10but at their meeting he felt he wasn't given any
0:45:10 > 0:45:12new information about his mother.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16The worst part or frustrating part
0:45:16 > 0:45:20would be walking to the St Patrick's Guild
0:45:20 > 0:45:23and walking out with a feeling of nothing,
0:45:23 > 0:45:26other than finding out basically what my father's name was
0:45:26 > 0:45:30which was on a piece of paper, which again could've been sent years ago.
0:45:34 > 0:45:39Crucially, Mike wanted to know more about Monsignor Hawkes -
0:45:39 > 0:45:43the paedophile priest who had taken him to California as an infant.
0:45:43 > 0:45:47Did he abuse his status as a priest to get access to children?
0:45:54 > 0:45:56At the meeting, Mike says
0:45:56 > 0:45:59the nun in charge made a revealing admission.
0:46:01 > 0:46:04"Did he cut through the red tape?" and she said it would have
0:46:04 > 0:46:07been easier for him to cut through the process
0:46:07 > 0:46:11cos of his status and position within the Church.
0:46:15 > 0:46:17It isn't known whether Monsignor Hawkes
0:46:17 > 0:46:21used the adoption process to find his victims
0:46:21 > 0:46:24but in the 30 years since he died, more cases
0:46:24 > 0:46:28of this serial paedophile's abuse continue to emerge.
0:46:29 > 0:46:34I felt sorrow for the victims and I felt sorrow for him,
0:46:34 > 0:46:39and he was in my prayers a lot, as well as the victims.
0:46:41 > 0:46:45It is not for me to be his judge here on Earth,
0:46:45 > 0:46:49although what he did and what I know he did was horrible.
0:46:59 > 0:47:01SHE LAUGHS
0:47:01 > 0:47:03Oh, it's deeper than I thought!
0:47:09 > 0:47:15The story of Mary Monaghan also raises disturbing questions.
0:47:24 > 0:47:28Sent by the nuns into the home of an abuser,
0:47:28 > 0:47:31her life has been ruined by her experiences.
0:47:35 > 0:47:38I think if they did proper vetting, I wouldn't have been placed
0:47:38 > 0:47:40in that household.
0:47:41 > 0:47:43How do you feel now?
0:47:43 > 0:47:45- Sad.- Completely defenceless.
0:47:45 > 0:47:51- Yes.- Unable to fend for yourself, in the Church's care.
0:47:51 > 0:47:53Church's care?!
0:47:53 > 0:47:55How do I feel now?
0:47:55 > 0:47:59Well, it's been a lot to overcome.
0:47:59 > 0:48:02Um, I still have flashbacks sometimes.
0:48:02 > 0:48:06And I still struggle with, you know, substance abuse occasionally.
0:48:06 > 0:48:10And I've been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
0:48:11 > 0:48:14The nuns who ran the home where Mary was born
0:48:14 > 0:48:17also declined to be interviewed.
0:48:17 > 0:48:19In a letter they said her adoptive father had
0:48:19 > 0:48:23previously been cleared to adopt in California
0:48:23 > 0:48:25and that vetting was the responsibility of either
0:48:25 > 0:48:30the American adoption agency or the Catholic Welfare Bureau.
0:48:34 > 0:48:36Mary, too, had little help from the Church
0:48:36 > 0:48:39as she searched for her mother.
0:48:39 > 0:48:42But finally, through a private agency,
0:48:42 > 0:48:44she tracked her down in London.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47This is wonderful!
0:48:47 > 0:48:49Bungee. Bungee!
0:48:49 > 0:48:52'Well, that was quite a moment when we first met.'
0:48:53 > 0:48:56I went up to her and I hugged her.
0:48:56 > 0:48:58She froze, she literally froze.
0:48:58 > 0:49:03So it came clear to me that I needed to tread lightly.
0:49:08 > 0:49:13It was very clear that I was to keep my mouth shut, you know?
0:49:13 > 0:49:18I'm a secret, that I was a long-lost cousin.
0:49:18 > 0:49:22Yeah, so I played along, best I could, but some people did guess.
0:49:26 > 0:49:30After spending 52 years apart, despite the difficulties
0:49:30 > 0:49:33of coming to terms with their relationship,
0:49:33 > 0:49:36Mary and her mother had nearly a decade together.
0:49:39 > 0:49:42- It's nice to see that they all have visitors.- Yes.
0:49:42 > 0:49:46Her mother died in 2010, and is buried near London.
0:49:46 > 0:49:50This is the first time Mary has visited her grave.
0:49:50 > 0:49:53- You can't pick 'em up, it'd be disrespectful.- Mary?
0:49:53 > 0:49:54Oh.
0:49:54 > 0:49:58- Oh, there are flowers here, too. - That's it, isn't it?
0:49:58 > 0:50:00Teresa Nellie.
0:50:00 > 0:50:02OK, I'm going to fuss around a bit here.
0:50:03 > 0:50:08I think I can just put these there.
0:50:09 > 0:50:10Yeah.
0:50:11 > 0:50:13There.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18It's just unfortunate that she had to take so much shame to her grave.
0:50:18 > 0:50:20Yes.
0:50:20 > 0:50:22- It is. - It isn't right.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31So it's been a difficult road but these are all steps on that road
0:50:31 > 0:50:33and today has been another step.
0:50:33 > 0:50:37Yes, yes, a very positive one.
0:50:38 > 0:50:39Yeah.
0:50:39 > 0:50:44Yes, I hesitate to use the word spiritual
0:50:44 > 0:50:45but...
0:50:47 > 0:50:49..maybe it is, in a way, I don't know.
0:50:49 > 0:50:52But it has a calming effect on me, it really does.
0:50:56 > 0:51:00My search has come full circle, so...
0:51:08 > 0:51:12Between 40 and 60,000 unmarried mothers
0:51:12 > 0:51:15gave up children for adoption in Ireland.
0:51:15 > 0:51:19Like Mary, many who have sought answers feel let down
0:51:19 > 0:51:22by the Catholic Church and the Irish State.
0:51:22 > 0:51:25Neither the Church's leader in Ireland,
0:51:25 > 0:51:28nor the Prime Minister would be interviewed for this programme.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35But earlier this year came a revelation
0:51:35 > 0:51:39that may now force the authorities to finally confront these issues.
0:51:41 > 0:51:45It's about St Mary's, another mother and baby home,
0:51:45 > 0:51:49run by the Catholic Church in the small town of Tuam.
0:51:49 > 0:51:53This is one of the only known photographs.
0:51:54 > 0:51:57I'm meeting Catherine Corless, who has
0:51:57 > 0:52:00uncovered the shocking history of the home.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05In the old days, this would have been the back of the home.
0:52:05 > 0:52:07- That's right, yes, just the back.- Yes.
0:52:07 > 0:52:11It was a local couple who put the little cross up here on the gate.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14- Yes. After you.- Thanks.
0:52:17 > 0:52:22After the home was demolished in the 1970s, the local council built
0:52:22 > 0:52:23houses on the site.
0:52:27 > 0:52:30But one area was left derelict.
0:52:30 > 0:52:34And the children from the estate used it as a playground.
0:52:34 > 0:52:38The children who were playing in this rough...it was only rubble all here,
0:52:38 > 0:52:43a wild area, and the children said that there was bones here.
0:52:43 > 0:52:46And they were actually kicking around what
0:52:46 > 0:52:49they thought was a football, but it was actually a skull of a child.
0:52:49 > 0:52:54And the people here, they came over and investigated it and they saw
0:52:54 > 0:52:59in this area here there was a tank and the top was moved over
0:52:59 > 0:53:03and it was opened a little bit, and they looked down and they could
0:53:03 > 0:53:06see there was literally, they couldn't...
0:53:06 > 0:53:09innumerable little bodies and skulls and bones.
0:53:09 > 0:53:13So they realised then that it was a graveyard.
0:53:14 > 0:53:19And do we know how many babies or children are actually buried here?
0:53:19 > 0:53:22- Well, including the whole area, there's nearly 800.- Nearly 800?
0:53:22 > 0:53:25Nearly 800, which is an enormous amount altogether.
0:53:25 > 0:53:27It's horrific, really.
0:53:30 > 0:53:35Catherine discovered that the young children died between 1925
0:53:35 > 0:53:41and 1961 from malnutrition and common diseases whilst at the home.
0:53:41 > 0:53:44And she believes that the nuns buried many of them
0:53:44 > 0:53:47in the unmarked mass grave on the site.
0:53:47 > 0:53:51The fact that nobody saw fit to commemorate them -
0:53:51 > 0:53:54what does that say about the society that allowed that to happen?
0:53:54 > 0:53:56They just weren't wanted.
0:53:56 > 0:53:58There were just hundreds of unwanted children.
0:53:58 > 0:54:03And, er, they were just, um, like a different species or something.
0:54:03 > 0:54:06It was just horrific, when you think about it, just horrific.
0:54:09 > 0:54:13The revelations about this home have forced both the Government
0:54:13 > 0:54:17and the Church to finally face up to the scandal of how unmarried
0:54:17 > 0:54:20mothers and their children were treated in Ireland.
0:54:21 > 0:54:24the Irish government has now ordered a police report
0:54:24 > 0:54:28on the deaths of the almost 800 children at this home.
0:54:30 > 0:54:33And it's launching a wider investigation into what was
0:54:33 > 0:54:37going on in all of Ireland's mother and baby homes,
0:54:37 > 0:54:39as well as the whole adoption process.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44In a statement given to me from the Catholic bishops, they say,
0:54:44 > 0:54:50"We apologise for hurt caused by the Church as part of this system."
0:54:50 > 0:54:55And that they "encourage all those who had any responsibility for setting up,
0:54:55 > 0:54:59"running or overseeing the homes or adoption agencies to gather
0:54:59 > 0:55:04"any documentation or information that might be of assistance."
0:55:17 > 0:55:20When I began my story about Philomena,
0:55:20 > 0:55:23I had little idea of the journey I was setting out on.
0:55:25 > 0:55:29I've been humbled by the heroic endurance of the people
0:55:29 > 0:55:31caught up in this tragedy.
0:55:32 > 0:55:34Come on.
0:55:35 > 0:55:40For Lily, who gave up her son Joseph 48 years ago, the pain goes on.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43We'll go and see Joe's grave now.
0:55:43 > 0:55:44It's Joe's grave.
0:55:47 > 0:55:49Recently, her husband died.
0:55:51 > 0:55:53You miss Joe, don't you?
0:55:53 > 0:55:55You miss Joe, you do. You miss Joe.
0:55:55 > 0:55:59I come down to see Joe every day - good job he's so near home.
0:56:05 > 0:56:08I've been married for 42 years and it's very lonely.
0:56:08 > 0:56:10I'm on my own here now -
0:56:10 > 0:56:14and it makes me more real to trace my son Joseph.
0:56:17 > 0:56:20It's really, really hard and each time you visit the graveyard
0:56:20 > 0:56:25and think, "Well, Joe would love to be here to do the same."
0:56:47 > 0:56:5115 years ago, Lily did manage to track down her son
0:56:51 > 0:56:53and received a letter from him.
0:56:53 > 0:56:55But that was the last she heard.
0:56:59 > 0:57:01Now she's decided to try again,
0:57:01 > 0:57:05so she's getting back in touch with the search agency in America.
0:57:05 > 0:57:08Two, eight,
0:57:08 > 0:57:11six, two, three, six, two.
0:57:15 > 0:57:17So I would like to make more contact.
0:57:17 > 0:57:19Have you still contact for him?
0:57:23 > 0:57:25Good. Yes.
0:57:25 > 0:57:29OK. Thanks a million. Lovely talking to you again.
0:57:29 > 0:57:31OK. OK. Bye.
0:57:41 > 0:57:44I've just phoned America, yes.
0:57:44 > 0:57:47And...which is mighty.
0:57:47 > 0:57:49I've just phoned America. Yeah.
0:57:52 > 0:57:56Lily's last hope is that a lovingly crafted letter will prompt
0:57:56 > 0:57:58a reunion.
0:58:00 > 0:58:01"Dear Joe.
0:58:01 > 0:58:04"Hope...
0:58:04 > 0:58:06"this...
0:58:06 > 0:58:08"finds
0:58:08 > 0:58:10"you...
0:58:11 > 0:58:12"..well.
0:58:13 > 0:58:16"I have the courage to try again.
0:58:16 > 0:58:17"I've been curious.
0:58:17 > 0:58:22"As life goes on, it gets harder not having you in my life.
0:58:22 > 0:58:24"So, Joseph, please reply to this letter.
0:58:24 > 0:58:26"I will end for now.
0:58:26 > 0:58:29"Yours sincerely, Irish Mammy, Lily."