Dublin Female Penitentiary, was a reform institution for "
fallen women
"Fallen woman" is an archaic term which was used to describe a woman who has "lost her innocence", and fallen from the grace of God. In 19th-century Britain especially, the meaning came to be closely associated with the loss or surrender of a w ...
" in
Dublin, Ireland. It established in 1810 and opened in 1813, it was run by the
Church of Ireland and located between Berkeley Road, Eccles St. and North Circular Road. The Asylum could cater for over 40 inmates. It was administered by a Committee of ladies, for the religious and moral improvement of the women. While inmates were from all religious backgrounds (some other such institutions only accepted women of the religion of the institution), they had to adhere to the rules of the house and were instructed in the
reformed faith. As with many protestant benevolent initiatives, many laywomen were involved. Mrs. Paulus Aemilius Singer of Temple Street, served as secretary of the committee, was a notable supporter of the institution.
Penitents were employed in a laundry washing and mangling, and also needlework,
hatmaking
Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter.
Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of g ...
and
mantua-making. As with other similar institutions the penitentiary was affiliated to a chapel (St. Augustine's Church, a chapel of ease in the parish of
St George
Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...
).
There was a Repository where the penitents' work was sold, with income used to fund the institution. After eighteen months places outside the laundry were sought for an inmate. Some inmates were sent to Queensland, Australia.
In 1840 the trustees put the chaplaincy under the visitation and clergy officiate under licence from the
Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin
The Archbishop of Dublin is an archepiscopal title which takes its name after Dublin, Ireland. Since the Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church and the other in the Church of Irelan ...
.
Associated people
Viscount Lorton served as Govonoress. Bart.
Sir Robert Shaw acted as treasurer.
['Dublin Almanac and General Register of Ireland', Pettigrew & Oulton., 1835.] Rev. William Burgh AB served as Chaplain to St. Augstines from 1826 to 1847, Rev. William Jameson (of the whiskey producing family), Chaplain, Rev. N. W. Carre, Rev. Charles Brough and Rev. Robert Halpen also served as chaplains. A Rev. John Paine Sargent A.B. and a Rev. D. Flynn was an assistant chaplain. Anne Kathrens served as Matron.
Similar institutions
Other similar protestant run institutions for "fallen women" in Ireland were
*
Bethany Home
Bethany Home (sometimes called Bethany House or Bethany Mother and Child Home) was a residential home in Dublin, Ireland, mainly for women of the Protestant faith, who were convicted of petty theft, prostitution, infanticide, as well as women who ...
, Rathgar, Dublin
*
Bethesda Chapel, Dublin
The Bethesda Chapel, Dublin, was an Episcopal Church of Ireland, church on Granby Row and Dorset Street, Dublin.
History Chapel
The Bethesda chapel was founded by Dublin merchant William Smyth, nephew of the Bishop of the same name, in 1784. It ...
, the chapel had a female orphanage, and ''Locks Penitentiary'' for women
*
Episcopal Chapel and Asylum for Penitent Females, Baggot Street, Dublin
*
Magdalen Asylum
Magdalene asylums, also known as Magdalene laundries, were initially Protestant but later mostly Roman Catholic institutions that operated from the 18th to the late 20th centuries, ostensibly to house " fallen women". The term referred to fema ...
(Denny House) Leeson Street, Dublin
* Magdalene Asylum in Cork (Sawmill Street)
*
Dublin by Lamplight
Dublin by Lamplight or the Lamplight Laundry, at 35 Ballsbridge Terrace, Ballsbridge, Dublin, was a Protestant-run Magdalene Laundry, founded in 1856, that like other such laundries housed so-called "fallen women". It was administered by a committ ...
, Ballsbridge, Dublin
*
, Belfast
*
Ulster Magdalene Asylum
The Ulster Magdalene Asylum was founded in 1839 at Donegall Pass, Belfast (now in Northern Ireland), by the Church of Ireland. It cared for "fallen women" like other Magdalene asylums. , Belfast
References
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1810 establishments in Ireland
Church of Ireland buildings and structures in Ireland
Magdalene asylums