Don't Ever Tell: Kathy's Story

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Don't Ever Tell: Kathy's Story
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Kathy O'Beirne
By (author) Michael Sheridan
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:278
Dimensions(mm): Height 204,Width 157
Category/GenreBiographies and autobiography
ISBN/Barcode 9780732282172
ClassificationsDewey:362.76
Audience
General

Publishing Details

Publisher HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd
Imprint HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd
Publication Date 31 May 2006
Publication Country Australia

Description

Kathy O'Beirne's earliest memories are of being battered and sexually abused. Unable to confide in anyone about the beatings she regularly received from her father or about the boys who made her play dirty games, she became withdrawn and self-destructive, leading a psychiatrist to diagnose her as 'a child with a troublesome mind'. Aged only eight, Kathy was removed from the family home and incarcerated in a series of institutions. In the first, a reformatory school run by a holy order on behalf of the Irish State, she was raped by a visiting priest. When she tried to get help, she was transferred to a psychiatric hospital, where the abuse continued, along with the administration of drugs and electric shock treatment. At the age of twelve, Kathy was sent to a Magdalen laundry. these notorious workhouses operated in Ireland throughout the twentieth century and during that time thousands of young girls, some orphans, some pregnant and some considered 'at risk' in the community, were forced to slave in horrendous conditions. Locked away from the outside world, many of the girls were cruelly punished and sexually abused by the staff or lay visitors

Author Biography

Kathy O'Bierne still lives in Ireland and continues to fight for justice for the Magdalen girls. Michael Sheridan is a journalist and writer.