Voices of Courage

Patricia Carey is the Special Advocate for Survivors of Institutional Abuse.  The role as Special Advocate for Survivors is to hear and promote the collective interests of Survivors, as expressed by them. Since the establishment of the office, Patrica has engaged with 100s of Survivors living in Ireland and overseas. The mission of the office is to ensure strong voice for Survivors and Affected Pe...

"I always say to survivors today when they say I'm damaged, I say you're not damaged, you're injured. You're injured, you know? And that's the truth of it. We are injured people." In this episode, we speak with Katie Doyle, a survivor of Ireland’s Industrial Schools and Magdalene Laundries. Taken into institutional care at four years old, Katie has very clear and distinct memories of her 14 years...

"Imagine you're going through life. You have no full identity. And you can't explain who you are. Only the misinformation you have. And you can't confirm it or anything. And you can imagine the thousands that went through life like that. Never finding out who their mother or father were." In this episode, we speak with Jude Hughes- Dubliner, master tailor, anti‑racism pioneer, and survivor of Irel...

"I'll never forget her words. She said, we heard his screams and we did nothing. Them words will never leave me.  Because people knew what was going on there. But no one ever did anything." In this episode, we speak with James Sugrue, who shares his powerful story of being boarded out as a child in Ireland- separated from his brothers and forced into years of exploitation on a Kerry farm. After re...

"Somebody took care of us. Somebody fed us. Somebody must have weighed us. But absolutely nothing. So in a way, it's like as if you never really existed." In this episode, we speak with Anne Murphy- nurse, midwife, piano teacher, mother, and lifelong volunteer who was born in the Castlepollard Mother and Baby Home in the 1950s. Anne shares her journey from infancy and time spent in multiple instit...

The Voices of Courage podcast is an initiative of the Special Advocate for Survivors. The podcast hears from Survivors speaking about their history, their stories, the events that shaped their lives as well as their hopes for the future. The goal of this series is to further amplify the voices of Survivors. We hope it will provide another platform for Survivors to share their own lived experiences...