Single Mothers in Twentieth-century Ireland and Britain : Pregnancy, Migration and Institutionalization

In this welcome study, Lorraine Grimes examines the journeys made by hundreds of pregnant Irish women to Britain in the twentieth century as they fled the shame of unmarried motherhood.

Their experiences in Britain, however, were not free of stigma and Grimes''s book analyses the institutional networks both in Britain and Ireland which came to these women''s aid and contributed to the culture of stigmatisation at the same time.

Single Mothers in Twentieth Century Ireland and Britain focuses on the experiences of women from 1926-1973 in cities with high Irish emigrant populations, including London, Liverpool, Birmingham and Glasgow. Unlike official narratives like the Commission''s Report into the Mother and Baby Homes in Ireland, this book prioritises the experiences of the survivors and incorporates original interviews with unmarried mothers, their children and state, religious and medical staff.

Using archival research and oral history, Grimes reveals the methods British and Irish institutions developed to manage these women, from forced adoption to institutionalisation in mother and baby homes, and the impacts these methods had on these mothers'' lives.

A first for the field, Single Mothers includes a chapter on the experiences of unmarried fathers and, sensitive to the underlying issues of class and gender politics, the book shows that women often enacted a larger degree of agency than might be expected.

If you are interested in women''s political and social history, and the history of the institutional relationships of Britain and Ireland, this book is essential reading.