More than a decade ago, the lyrics of a Joni Mitchell song called "Magdalene Laundries" struck a chord with Erin Layton.
http://ncronline.org/news/art-media/play-gives-voice-magdalene-lives#
These bloodless brides of Jesus.. If they had just once glimpsed their groom..Then they'd know and they'd drop the stones.. Concealed behind their rosaries.
Wondering what a Magdalene laundry was, Layton did some research and
found out about the institutions run by Catholic nuns in Ireland where
unwed mothers, orphans, disabled girls, prostitutes and even merely
high-spirited young women were sent to live and work in servitude to, as
it was thought, atone for their sins. The commercial laundries operated
from 1830 until 1996.http://ncronline.org/news/art-media/play-gives-voice-magdalene-lives#