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Witness History: Ireland's Magdalene Laundries

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Ireland's Magdalene Laundries

26/09/2012 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, Ireland's Magdalene Laundries

The story of a young girl who survived Ireland's notorious Catholic workhouses for women.

It's 16 years since the closure of the last Magdalene laundry in Ireland.

The laundries were violent workhouses where young women and girls were forced to work for nothing - unable to leave. 

They were run by Roman Catholic Nuns. 

Photo: Ellen Murphy today

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