The Magdalenes and I

As the Irish State agrees to investigate its role in the Magdalene Laundries, Steven prepares to meet the chairperson of that group, Martin McAleese, to outline his evidence of State interaction and submit the stories he gathered of the women to the committee. Steven also presents the committee with a Magdalene Laundry ledger detailing the State's financial contributions to a Magdalene Laundry in Dublin. Steven also submits key evidence of State involvement to other Magdalene laundries operating throughout Ireland.

Soon, word begins to filter through that the Stanhope Laundry, where Kathleen Legg resided, will not be part of the state investigation, leaving the survivors shocked and bewildered.

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Wednesday 20th July 2011 The Forgotten Maggies airs on TG4 to a record breaking audience. The outpouring of support brings the women’s story to new heights. In the lead up to the broadcast Steven and Marina Gamdold appear on RTE’s Radio 1 Today with Pat Kenny Show. This is her stoy. 

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As Steven campaigns for a State applogy for survivors of Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries, the Irish broadcasting station TG4 agrees to air Steven’s documentary on Irish TV for the first time. Mary Smyth is now ready to tell her story! Soon after Steven begins work on a charity single to help further highlight the stories of the Magdalene women. Sinead O’ Connor, Daniel O’ Donnell, and Moya Breenan are just some of the artists who sign on to record From a Distance written by Grammy award winner Julie Gold.

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The success of the Galway Film Festival draws enormous media attention to Steven and the Magdalene women. Other survivors start to come forward to tell their stories, marking a positive turning point in Steven's campaign to help give these women a voice. Steven soon turns his attention to a political campaign and one letter to the Minister for Justice changes everything.

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The Forgotten Maggies launches at the Galway Film Festival to critical acclaim. Its success draws enormous media attention to the stories of the women and it’s now time for Steven to contemplate his next move.  

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As Steven and Gerard set about editing the documentary, The Forgotten Maggies, Steven gets word that submissions are now open for the Galway Film Festival. Steven believes that this is his chance to get the women’s story out to a national audience and submits his documentary in the hope that it will be accepted to the festival. A few weeks later his attention turns back to Maureen’s story. Is this the breakthrough Steven and Maureen have been waiting for? 

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As Steven’s documentary gathers pace he is desperate to find a person with a religious background to speak on the subject. After months of emailing the nuns looking for their participation he soon turns his attention to the bishops. Finally, Bishop Willie Walsh agrees to speak and Steven’s focus is on the women who were exhumed in 1993. 

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Steven flies to the UK with his production team to interview survivors Mary King, Kathleen Legg and Mary Collins. Kathleen Legg is a survivor of the Stanhope Street Laundry in Dublin run by the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity. Kathleen has kept her story secret for 69 years. She is now ready to talk.

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Mary’s mother Angela Collins spent 27 years working for the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity in Peacock Lane, Cork City. Her sister also spent time in the Good Shepherd Magdalene Laundry in Cork. Sadly Mary’s sister took her own life when she was 27. Mary talks to Steven and explains the impact the institutions had on her and her family

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Impacted by Mary Norris’s story, Steven visits the Good Shepherd Magdalene Laundry in Sunday’s Well Cork. An unexpected accident reveals much deeper wounds about the Laundry's past. As a result Steven writes to the four Religious Orders who ran the Magdalene Laundries throughout Ireland asking if he could meet with any survivors who were left behind.  

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After reaching out to the London Irish Centre in the UK Steven speaks with survivor Mary King who was abandoned on the street in Dublin and put into a home in County Westmeath by the courts. Mary talks about the devastation she suffered while in the institutions and the pain of losing and rediscovering her family. 

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It’s Friday night and Steven is watching the Late Late Show when a surprise phone call lifts him from his seat. It’s Maureen Sullivan a survivor from the Good Shepherd Magdalene Laundry in New Ross, Co. Wexford. Maureen wants justice for what she suffered and Steven promises to do what he can to help her. Their friendship and Maureen’s story ignites a passion and a determination by Steven to expose the truth by making his first feature-length documentary.  

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It’s the summer of 2007 and Steven meets with Mary Norris, an outspoken Magdalene survivor who opens his eyes to the horror of the asylums. Could someone really end up in a Magdalene Laundry just because they went to the movies without permission? 

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It’s 2006, and Steven has graduated from Bath Spa University UK. Inspired by Peter Mullen’s film The Magdalene Sisters, Steven is fascinated by the story of the Magdalene Laundries. However, one quick Google search by Steven changes everything.

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Dublin, 1993. As day breaks word begins to spread that 155 Magdalene women are to be exhumed from a Dublin Magdalene Laundry run by the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity. The scandal brings shame on the Religious Order but the headlines soon disappear and so do the women’s stories. One Magdalene woman is reclaimed by her family. This is their story. 

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The Magdalenes and I is the extraordinary story of how one young man met with and campaigned for 100s of Magdalene survivors. It reveals in shocking detail the trauma the women suffered with exclusive never heard before interviews given by survivors and their family members. It pieces together the highs and lows of what it was like for Steven and the women he met to expose the truth, fight for justice and triumph against all the odds. Brand new episodes every Monday starting March 25th.

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