“It was difficult growing up without anyone - I never had anybody that cared about me as a child."
The news that the Government has approved the forensic excavation of the site of the former mother-and-baby home in Tuam, Co Galway was roundly welcomed by campaigners and families of the lost children of Ireland.
The announcement brought memories flooding back to Navan resident, Patrick Keegan, who grew up in St Vincent’s Orphanage in Drogheda and the notorious Artane Industrial school.
Paddy (70), has since lived a happy and successful life, but his extremely difficult childhood is something that will always haunt him.
“It was difficult growing up without anyone - I never had anybody that cared about me as a child. I remember people coming to foster or adopt children and we’d all be lined up, but I was never picked,” he recalls.
Paddy was born in the Sean Ross Abbey mother and baby home in Co Tipperary on 16th March 1948. His mother was Mary Ann Keegan of Morele, Emo, Co Laois, where her family had a farm. She had been admitted to the home in 1947.
Paddy holds up a picture of his mother, Mary Ann
Documents show mother and baby got to spend a few weeks together, until 9th July 1948, when Paddy was fostered to a Mrs O’Sullivan in Offaly and Mary Ann was admitted to the Magdalene Laundry in Sean McDermott Street, in Dublin where she remained until the day she died, just ten years later at the age of 47 from TB.
Paddy was fostered by Mrs O’Sullivan until he was four.
“I have very little memories of her but she came to visit me when I was in Drogheda. I thought she was my mother and I was delighted.”
Most of those born in Sean Ross at the same time as Paddy were destined to be adopted by wealthy US families. Sean wasn’t a very healthy baby at first and wasn’t lucky enough to be adopted. He spent six years in St Vincent’s Orphanage in Drogheda until he was 10-years-old,
“I was very shy and lonely in Drogheda. Sometimes we’d go for walks in groups and you’d hear the women on the street saying ‘Aw, the poor orphans’.”
“The mothers of some of the boys in the orphanage used to come in and take them out for the weekend, but I never got to go out.
“The song ‘Nobody’s Child’ always bring it back to me.”
Paddy made his First Communion in St Peter’s Church in Drogheda and had a new suit to wear for the day.
“As soon as I got back, I had to take it off. Instead of one boiled egg that day, I got two and felt very happy in myself.”
Paddy's mother Mary Ann with an unidentified nun
School was very tough for Paddy, his dyslexia undiagnosed and a reason to be singled out for punishment.
“They knew nothing about dyslexia in those days. I used to get a clout for being lazy.”
“The nuns used to have straps hanging out of them, and if you didn’t do what they wanted, you’d get a strap across the hand.”
Birthdays and Christmasses were not celebrated until one year, the Society of St Vincent De Paul organised for Santa to visit.
“It was the first time I’d ever heard of Santa. I was hoping for a gun and holster, but I got a teddy bear and I was delighted.
“We used to have jobs to do, like cleaning, polishing the floor.”
He remembers what is was like when they had baths.
“We used to have to strip off in a line and take it in turns. At times it was very, very cold.”
As soon as he turned 10, Paddy was deemed too old for Drogheda and was sent off to the Artane Industrial school, where his experiences were so awful, he still finds it hard to talk about.
One of his happier memories of Artane is of a Mrs Kavanagh from Drogheda who used to come to visit him and bring him out for treats now and again.
“I also saw my first banana when I was there. There was a strike at the docks in Dublin and a truckload of bananas were going to go off, so it just came up to Artane and dumped the lot in the yard.
“We had bananas for ages”.
When Paddy turned 16 he was classed as a grown-up and left Artane for good.
“I had nothing and no education, but the brothers organised for me to work on a farm in Birr.
Paddy worked for a number of farmers over the next few years, and never having had anything for himself, he managed to save from what little wages he was paid. During that time, he came in contact with Mrs O’Sullivan, who had fostered him as a baby and stayed with her for a period.
Paddy has researched his past and discovered he had a brother who he did get to meet
When he had a good bit saved, he travelled to Dublin where his money fast ran out and he ended up staying in hostels and with the Salvation Army.
He got a break however when he met a guy who worked for the hotelier, PV Doyle, and Paddy went out to the Montrose Hotel where he got a job as a kitchen porter.
He became acquainted with PV Doyle who always treated him very well, telling him about an opening a the Green Isle Hotel and then at the Burlington, where he ended up as Head Banqueting Porter.
By then, he had picked up reading and writing from everyday working.
Paddy then took up taxi driving for 20 years and is now semi retired.
Over the years, he would buy a house, live in it and renovate it, then sell it on at a profit and moving onto another house.
He got married and now has five daughters and 16 grandchildren, although his marriage broke up.
It was after he got married that he decided to find out more about his mother - unfortunately, he never got the chance to meet her as she had died at just 47 in the Magdalene Laundry in Sean McDermott Street.
However he discovered by chance that he had a brother and after a lot of online searching, he located John, who was 17 years older than him and was living in Australia. They visited each other and had a wonderful time getting to know each other, but sadly, John died a few years ago.
Despite his traumatic upbringing Paddy is a happy and content man, doing a little part time work in a hotel, living in St Patrick’s Terrace. His granddaughter lives with him and one of his daughters and two grandchildren live next door.
He also keeps in contact with his new found family in Australia.
“I am glad that I got to met John, I’m just sorry that we didn’t have longer to spend together,” he said.
*****
SEARCHING FOR FAMILY...
Tracking down birth mother led Paddy to discover his brother
Growing up very much alone, Paddy always wanted to know his family and shortly after his own wedding, decided to track down his birth mother.
"We had our honeymoon in Kerry and on the way back to Dublin, I decided to stop at Sean Ross Abbey and find ask about my mother."
Unlike, an adopted child, Paddy was able to find out who his mother was and where she was from, only to discover she had died in a Magdalene laundry.
He spoke to a nun called Sr Sarto, who gave him the information about his mother, along with a photo.
He still wanted some connection with his mother’s family and decided to travel to Emo, where he found his mother’s brother and sister in law.
"They first of all told me they had no idea what I was talking about, and insisted their sister had gone to Dublin to be a nun."
That was in 1977, but his uncle later came round and acknowledged the family connection, and Paddy still has limited contact with his Laois relatives.
"I used to visit them now and again and I travelled to Emo for a funeral of my aunt in the 1990s and spoke to the local priest there about my mother.
"He told me that 12 or 13 years earlier another man had come looking for information about his mother.
"He told me he was my brother and he had come from Australia with his daughter and had a letter from Sr Sarto.
"Sr Sarto had never mentioned him to me. If she did, we might have met a lot earlier and been able to spend longer together," he says.
For two years, Paddy and his daughter, Anna rang every J Keegan they could find in Australian telephone directories and then registered with austraslianreunited.com.eu and made a successful appeal for John.
He had been placed in foster care in Wicklow and later moved to England and Australia.
John came over to Ireland and spent three months with Paddy, who in turn paid a visit to Australia.
"It was wonderful to have so much family around. I had nieces and nephews calling me Uncle Paddy." he said.
"It felt great."
Sadly John has since died, but Paddy is still in contact with his nieces and nephews in Australia.
"My grand-nephew has just had a new baby and I sent a present over," he said.