A Magdalene laundry, also known as a Magdalene asylum, was a house for women who had "fallen" from "moral correctness". The asylums were named for Mary Magdalene, the supposed prostitute who apparently repented her sins and became one of Jesus Christ's
closest followers. They were started in the middle of the 19th century
as rehabilitation centers for prostitutes. However, the victims of the
Magdalene asylums could not expect to be forgiven as Mary Magdalene
was.
These asylums were a network of laundries operated by the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland and elsewhere, and run by the Sisters of a range of orders. Many women lived and died in these institutions with little hope of escape. The only way they could be freed was by being claimed by a relative. Often, family members were told that the women had moved away, and would be impossible to find because they had assumed new identities.
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Magdalene_laundry
These asylums were a network of laundries operated by the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland and elsewhere, and run by the Sisters of a range of orders. Many women lived and died in these institutions with little hope of escape. The only way they could be freed was by being claimed by a relative. Often, family members were told that the women had moved away, and would be impossible to find because they had assumed new identities.
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Magdalene_laundry