Majella Moynihan, the former Garda who faced dismissal for having a baby outside of marriage and was subsequently pressurised into giving her baby boy, David, up for adoption brings a spotlight again on an Ireland of the past. It can be summed up as “the culture of the time”. But, it does not excuse the perpetrators of that culture which actually includes all of us who lived through that time.

Girls and women were controlled in the home, in the workforce, in the church and in society. Growing up we were warned against getting pregnant long before we knew how that even came about.

That was probably the worst intimidation; fear of rejection

I remember the threat that you might end up like “her”; cast aside by society, trying to rear a baby with no income and certainly not ever again desired by any self-respecting man in the future. That was probably the worst intimidation; fear of rejection. Majella knew her colleagues were “talking about” her. Of course they were. We all did it about girls in similar circumstances and I am not proud of that.

Who ordained that society and us as individuals should take the high moral ground? The church? The State? Ourselves maybe? It is difficult to comprehend the mentality of people who perpetrated that culture.

The culture of a society or organisation is a powerful thing. It takes an extraordinarily strong individual to buck against it

These were good people doing what they thought was right. Castigation of the individuals is not appropriate but condemnation of an Ireland that allowed moral judgements to be made on women is certainly fitting. The culture of a society or organisation is a powerful thing.

It takes an extraordinarily strong individual to buck against it. It takes education and an ability to be able to examine society and realise what is happening. Majella was a victim of that male-dominated culture. She was wronged.

Documentary on One

Last Saturday, I was making a batch of scones when the Documentary on One telling Majella’s story came on. I was riveted to the radio. I roughly wiped my hands in the tea towel and moved to the sink to have a closer listen. I was aghast. This was all happening as I reared my own young family.

I looked down to realise that my knuckles were white from closing my fists so tightly

I began to think about all the other women who will never be able to tell their own stories. I could feel the tears threatening. I feel for women who have secret turmoil from the past that they cannot talk about and in essence have never been able to fully recover that chance to be truly happy. Living with regret never goes away. Everyone has some.

I looked down to realise that my knuckles were white from closing my fists so tightly. That tension is still within girls that grew up in that time. I would have naïvely thought that by now that culture hold had eased but really, it will take centuries.

Cartoon by Clyde Delaney.

Where were the advocates?

After Majella’s programme, there were several other women who commented. I heard snippets of them. People who phoned in to say they worked closely as colleagues with Majella or they knew her. They wanted to offer information that stated that she was a good person, a nice person. I found this quite incredulous.

There were no questions asked of them as to what they did to support or help Majella yet they admitted that they knew what the force was doing to her. They could have been her advocates.

We are still anything but inclusive in our society

So we have to ask; what is the culture of today and more importantly what are we accepting as normal behaviour towards others that we will be castigated for by future generations? Who are we wronging? Is it gender issues? Is it our treatment of migrants? Is it the homeless? Or is it something so ingrained in our culture that we don’t even consider it as an injustice yet? We are still anything but inclusive in our society. We avoid difference. We close our eyes to families who are struggling with a loved one with challenging behaviour or a severe disability or autism or mental health issues. We are tolerant, even admiring of tax avoiders. Culture is lived and formed by the people. We can change it.

At least Majella’s story is out there now, thanks to Aoife Kelleher and Sarah Blake; producers of the documentary on RTÉ Radio 1. A job very well done.