THE family of a baby girl who died three days after she was admitted to the notorious Goldenbridge orphanage in Dublin is calling for her exhumation to investigate the cause of death.Frances Howe, sister of 11-month-old Marion, says her parents were left "devastated" after the death of their youngest daughter in 1955.
"Marion’s birth cert says she died of dysentery, but when my father went to the hospital to see her she had a bandage on her head, burns on her legs and holes the size of a silver dollar coin," says Ms Howe.
Marion was placed in Goldenbridge after her 29-year-old mother Christina had fallen ill. As her own mother was already looking after her other four young children, Christina agreed to leave Marion with the Sisters of Mercy until she was well again.
The placement was meant to be just for two weeks.
Three days later, word was sent to Marion’s father, who was working in England at the time, that she was dead.
"My father went to the police but he was told a few days later it was an ‘unfortunate accident’ and to forget about it," says Ms Howe.
Christina and Myles Howe never received a satisfactory explanation as to how their daughter died and spent their lives wondering what happened to Marion.
Now, her family is calling for the exhumation of her body to resolve what they believe to be the unanswered questions surrounding her death.
"We want a forensic examination to find out the exact cause of death. We have seen no hospital records, no postmortem results, just a death certificate to say the cause of death was dysentery," added Ms Howe, who says her mother always knew something bad had happened to Marion.
"My mother used to say if the police had listened to what our father was saying in 1955 it could have saved an awful lot of children from being abused. We just want the truth about what happened.
"If there is anyone out there who knows what happened to Marion, an 11-month old happy baby with blonde hair and blue eyes who was in Goldenbridge in May of 1955, please get in touch with us. We are not looking for compensation, we just want answers."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Source (IE)
SV (3)