An Irish mother who had her child taken from her and offered for adoption without her consent in the 1960s has finally been reunited with her daughter after 30 years of searching.
The Irish parliament heard this week that the woman had given birth to a baby daughter in the Mother and Baby Home in Castlepollard in County Westmeath in 1966, but claimed she had never consented to giving her up for adoption.
Shortly after the birth the woman was told by a priest and matron that her daughter had been adopted. She had never signed consent papers.
The shocking case was raised in the parliament this week by Independent TD Clare Daly, who said that there were thousands of people in similar circumstances desperately searching for their adopted family members.
According to the Irish Independent, Daly said that the woman who had lost her child had contacted her ten days ago in desperation because she had cancer twice and wanted to tell her daughter about her health history.
She had been married with four children but had never given up searching for her daughter, Daly said.
Taking action, Daly contacted the Adoption Rights Alliance, who informed her at the weekend that in a matter of says they had managed to locate and contact the woman’s daughter who is now aged 47.
'Her daughter was absolutely delighted and is looking forward to meeting her mother. 30 years searching ended in ten days because of random correspondence with a TD,' Daly said.
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny welcomed the news of the successful resolution of the 30-year search.
'Clearly this is a good ending to a long running saga where a mother was looking for her naturally born baby,' he said.
Kenny reportedly promised to arrange a meeting between Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald and the Adoption Alliance to deal with Daly's complaint that the records in this case were available and should have been used long before to re-unite the woman with her daughter.
The Manor House Mother and Baby Home at Castlepollard was run by the Sacred Heart Sisters from 1935 until 1971.
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