Sean Ross Abbey
Adoption Rights NOW!
Formal Notice
To whom it may concern
Please take note that the adoption activist group Adoption Rights NOW! strongly objects to the sale of Sean Ross Abbey. This notorious former Mother & Baby home set up and operated by the Order of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary based in Chigwell in England saw some 4,800 babies born there from 1930 to 1970. Although the order has consistently refused to release details of the number of babies who died and were buried there, estimates of 700 to 1,200 are generally considered reliable. There is no formal record of the exact numbers nor where exactly they are buried. Adoption Rights NOW! and it’s active membership have already made clear their outrage about this despicable sale in the pages of the Tipperary Star and during a local media campaign in Roscrea. Yet we have been ignored, as have the feelings of the 52,000 adoptees in Ireland today as well as 52,000 natural mothers. We are formally requesting that the main Angels Plot be legally and permanently turned over to a Trust Committee comprised of natural mothers and adoptees, and that there is a extensive and detailed forensic examination of the entire area
Should our extremely reasonable request be refused. We will oppose this sale by all legal means including protests, pickets, demonstrations, and in particular, we will lodge mass objections to any planning permission for Sean Ross Abbey in the future unless there is an extensive and detailed forensic examination of the entire area beforehand. We would remind you of the international scandal which came to light in High Park Magdalen Laundry in Dublin in 1995 when it was discovered that 155 people were buried there, and the ensuing controversy over unmarked graves and undocumented bodies. We will not stand by and allow such a international scandal in Sean Ross Abbey. If any bodies are found during such an examination, we will demand that they are left in situ and their final resting places are marked with proper headstones.
Furthermore, take note that if Sean Ross Abbey is sold publicly or privately, we will be contacting the new owners to express our disgust at their purchase of a mass grave of innocent babies and children and to further inform them of our formal notice to you of our intention to disrupt, delay and prevent any development of the entire grounds of Sean Ross Abbey by all peaceful and legal means available to Adoption Rights NOW! including protests, legal action, media campaigns, and any other unspecified actions available within the law.
Further take note that should you not pass on this information to any potential purchasers, you may be held liable in any future civil actions by any purchaser for damages, for with holding pertinent and important information relating to the sale.