Louise Brangan The Fallen: The Magdalene Laundries And Ireland's Legacy Of Silence

€19.85

New

Louise Brangan The Fallen: The Magdalene Laundries And Ireland's Legacy Of Silence

Code 9781847928474

Add to Basket

Description: Binding: Paperback
Date Published: 30 Apr 2026
When the gates of the last Magdalene Laundry closed in 1996, Ireland moved on. Or so it seemed.

'Compelling, measured and deeply felt' ANNE ENRIGHT
'A terrific yet harrowing unearthing of Ireland's shadowland. A landmark book' RORY CARROLL
'Breaking silence is a catalyst for change' CAELAINN HOGAN

Following independence in 1922, Ireland began to chase a dream: to become the perfect Catholic nation. But purity had a price. Throughout the twentieth century, thousands of women and girls who did not conform - the wayward, the poor, the disabled, the abused - were sent to the Magdalene Laundries. Each was perceived to have fallen in some way. Once locked inside, their hair was shorn off, their names were erased - and then they were put to work. They washed, they scrubbed and they prayed, labouring in an attempt to salvage their souls.

This remains one of the darkest and most misunderstood periods of recent history. Published to coincide with the thirtieth anniversary of the last Laundry's closure, The Fallen is the forgotten story of the Magdalene Laundries, told through the voices of the women who endured them, the nuns who presided over them and the communities that lived alongside them.

Unflinching and compassionate, Louise Brangan draws on archives and survivors' testimonies to dismantle long-held myths about what the Laundries were, who was sent to these places of violence and secrecy, and why. As we move from the past into the present, Brangan compels us not only to confront this shameful history, but to ask a deeper question: what do we choose to remember?

Winner of the 2024 Royal Society of Literature Giles St Aubyn Award
About the Author: Dr Louise Brangan is an Irish academic who researches injustice and punishment. She is a 2023 BBC and AHRC New Generation Thinker and winner of the 2024 Royal Society of Literature Giles St Aubyn Award. She lives and works in Scotland.
Delivery Info: We provide FREE delivery in the Republic of Ireland when you spend €49 or more.
FREE Click & Collect from The Ennis Bookshop. You will not be charged for this service. We are happy to arrange Delivery outside Ireland. Please e-mail us at enquiries@ennisbookshop.ie for more information.
Find out more about our Delivery & Collection services
Returns Policy: We want you to be completely satisfied with your order and we would hope to resolve any problems you may have. If you are unhappy with your purchase, we will exchange or refund the item or issue a credit note, providing the goods are not damaged and all packaging is still intact.
Terms and conditions apply.
Please view our full Returns Policy for further information.

Back to results page

Click to view complete product details

More Like This

Ais Bunreacht Na hÉireann

€5.00

Fintan O'Toole We Don't Know Ourselves

€18.85

Joseph McCullough A Pocket History of Ireland

€6.99

Bestseller

James Hawes The Shortest History Of Ireland

€17.50

No. 1

David McCullagh From Crown To Harp: How The Anglo-Irish Treaty Was Undone 1920-1949

€24.99

Helene O'Keeffe Atlas of the Irish Civil War: New Perspectives

€69.00

Reviews

Compelling, measured and deeply felt; Brangan cuts through shame and fable to tell the truth about the 'inconvenient' women whose lives were stolen by the Magdalene Laundries. Indispensable. -- Anne Enright
A terrific yet harrowing unearthing of Ireland's shadowland. I thought I knew about the Magdalene Laundries. I was wrong. Brangan's chronicle is limpid, eloquent and devastating. A landmark book. -- Rory Carroll
Breaking silence is a catalyst for change and the lived experiences of survivors in this book demand a reckoning, challenging us to ask ourselves what systemic injustices we are normalising to this day. -- Caelainn Hogan

POP-IN HTML goes here

Your Basket

Your basket is currently empty

<script async src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-L151K0BN2D'></script>

window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
  function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
  gtag('js', new Date());

gtag('consent', 'default', {
    'ad_storage': 'granted',
    'ad_user_data': 'granted',
    'ad_personalization': 'granted',
    'analytics_storage': 'granted'
  });
  gtag('config', 'G-L151K0BN2D', {
            page_title: 'Product Detail Page'
          });

gtag('config', 'UA-175906451-1', {
            page_title: 'Product Detail Page'
          });

gtag('config', 'AW-887-518-9791', {
            page_title: 'Product Detail Page'
          });

</script>

gtag('event', 'view_item',  {
              currency: 'EUR',
              value: 19.85,
              items: [
                {
                  item_id: '9781847928474',
                  item_name: 'Louise Brangan The Fallen: The Magdalene Laundries And Ireland&#39;s Legacy Of Silence',
                  currency: 'EUR',
                  index: 0,
                  item_brand: 'Louise Brangan',
                  item_category: 'Shop by Category',
                  item_category1: 'Irish History',
                  price: 19.85,
                  quantity: 1
                }
              ]
          });

</script>