Kilrush County Nursery

Thanks Miriam. 

I have found a book which says that when the Hospital closed in 1932 all remaining children were transferred to Shan Ross Abbey. I believe the records are now held by the Children and Family Agency. 

Unfortunately, my Grandad passed away in 2006. We always believed that the family he grew up with were his biological family but that is not the case and we are now looking to trace his family history. 

We believe we have managed to do that but we are also interested in finding out about how he ended up with the family he grew up with.

Hi Marc,
Have just discovered my father was born in the County Nursery in Kilrush in October 1930. We had always thought he was born in the County Home in Ennis which is where he was fostered out to a local family from, when he was 2 -3 years old. This would seem to suggest that perhaps he was sent to Ennis when the Nursery in Kilrush was closed - which seems to challenge the notion that the remaining children were all sent to Sean Ross Abbey? We believe there was only one other child with him in the children's home in Ennis who was much older,so this would not have been your father. Sorry not have anything more useful to offer, but I would be interested to know about the book you mention and any other info about the County Nursery in Kilrush. Many thanks and very best of luck in your search.

Hi Aine, 

Thank you for your reply. 

The book I found the information about Kilrush was called "The Adoption Machine: The Dark History of Ireland’s Mother and Baby Homes and the Inside Story of How Tuam 800 Became a Global Scandal".

I found the information in the book on the link https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=w1BSDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT66&lpg=PT66&dq=Records+of+where+children+went+after+leaving+Kilrush+County+Nursery&source=bl&ots=ZUNVsQRs9g&sig=ACfU3U0t4_QiddMd0Vf73DwOwTARI_cfdw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiSgcPriMnkAhWNQUEAHUTQAkEQ6AEwBnoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=Records%20of%20where%20children%20went%20after%20leaving%20Kilrush%20County%20Nursery&f=false.

Do you know if there were records held when children were fostered out?

Regards,

Marc

Hi Marc,
Thanks for the link. It makes grim reading. I believe there might have been records but no idea if they still exist. I wrote emails some time ago to various places looking for information, without much success. I was told that what records there were would have been minimal anyway and would have included very little useful detail. I will search for those emails in case there is any info that might be useful to you.
We always wondered if the link with the foster family was purely random ... or if there was some reason behind it ( e.g. a secret biological link perhaps) but it was never spoken of for fear of causing offense and the older members of the family are long gone now. My dad loved his foster family very much and we have been fortunate to grow up thinking of them as family, regardless, but I also know and appreciate the need for information. It is also hard not to think of the sadness and trauma of their mothers (our grandmothers and great grandmothers) who found themselves in those places and lost their babies to other families. Wishing you
good luck with your search.
Kind regards,
A.

Hello,

I have been trying to search for my family for years, my fathers name was Michael Vincent Carberry and he was born on oct 4 1925 at the kilrush nursery for unwed mothers, he was at some point in his young life taken in by a family called the culligans  Or Keehans I believe they may have raised him , I have tried for years to find out anything I could about my dad but I have gotten no answers , thanks for letting me share my story,,,,,    Kathleen Carberry/vaught

Hi

I also wanted to mention that my father eventually grew up in a town called crusheen...,  Any info is greatly appreciated .,,,,.  Kathleen Carberry-vaught