Discarded in death as they were in life.

Ishka Films presents MOTHER & BABY - a short documentary by Mia Mullarkey

MOTHER & BABY is a poetic and psychological portrayal of survival. From 1904 to 1996 children of unwed mothers in Ireland were raised in Mother & Baby Homes run by Catholic nuns. In these homes the child mortality rate was staggeringly high and a secret mass grave containing 796 infant remains was recently discovered in one of the homes. After many years of research, local woman Catherine Corless disclosed the story of the home in Tuam to the world.

Revealing the children's perspectives, including powerful archive recordings, and portraying the discovery of 796 infant remains, this documentary offers a painful yet cathartic insight into the cruel business of Irish Mother & Baby Homes. MOTHER & BABY bears witness to three of the 35,000 Home Children; Peter, Pat and Carmel, who were forcibly separated from their mothers and eventually fostered out. The documentary also follows Catherine's work in bringing the truth to light.

Contributors:
Catherine Corless
Carmel Larkin
Peter Mulryan
Pat Duffy
Kathleen Mulryan
Sadie Cramer

​
Credits:
Writer/ Director: Mia Mullarkey
Producer: Alice McDowell
Cinematographer: Aidan Maguire
Composer: Anna Mullarkey
Additional Cinematography: Kevin Minogue
Editor: Mirjam Strugalla
Sound Mixer: Simon Murphy 
Re-Recording Mixer and Sound Editor: Peter Blayney
Colourist: Donal O'Kane
Photographer: Maurice Gunning
Musicians: Anna Mullarkey & Juliana Erkkonen  
Music Mastering Engineer: Liam King
Online: Warren Dowling
Executive Producer: Emma Scott
Shorts Co-ordinator: Jill McGregor
Project Managers: Mary Callery & Keith Potter
Production Company: Ishka Films
Post-Production Company: Screen Scene
​Funder: Irish Film Board

Director's Statement:
​This short documentary, funded by the Irish Film Board, brings us into the world of children who were taken from their unwed mothers, something which occurred on a nationwide scale in Ireland. Having spent time with Catherine Corless, the woman who uncovered the story and grew up beside the Tuam Home, I became interested in the emotional landscape of the children living in the home. As people who were stolen from their mothers and seen as outcasts by their peers and carers, I hoped to enter the inner world of those survivors during that time. Alongside this portrayal is Catherine’s story, that of a tireless woman who fought for years to give voice to those 796 children who passed away unceremoniously.