A Sound of Sheer Silence

I am not Irish; I was born here (well, in the United States--New York City, to be exact).  I have never lived in Ireland, and so I am not really equipped to analyze and parse all of the reasons that the people of Ireland overwhelmingly voted to change their constitution to allow same sex couples to get married.  For that kind of analysis, you should look to Irish sources-- the Irish Times has had typically excellent coverage . I have a feeling, though, that I know the reason.  While I am not Irish, the vast majority of my family originates from Ireland.  There is some German blood on my paternal grandfather's side (Hinler-- not  to be confused with notorious Nazi mass murder Himmler, as my father is quick to point out), and my maternal grandfather was born in England, originally of Welsh descent (Jones).  Otherwise, it is all Irish--Boyle, McDonald, McGonigle.  So, while I am not Irish, I think can see the echoes of the traits common to the people of...

This Sunday, the Irish Sunday Mail published a horrifying story.  A couple of kids were playing around on a property formerly known as "The Home" in County Galway, on the west coast of Ireland.  From 1925 to 1961, "The Home" was a facility for unmarried, pregnant girls and their children, much like the Magdalene Laundries that were shown in the recent movie Philomena .  The boys accidentally broke through an old septic tank and discovered the bones of what might be as many as 800 infants and children .  They were buried together in a mass grave, with no identifying markers.  A Galway historian discovered contemporary health inspector reports that described the children in this facility as "emaciated," "with flesh hanging loosely from their limbs."  The children, who did nothing other than being born to an unmarried mother, were referred to as "inmates."  Clearly, these children were neglected, and then almost literally flushed down the ...