Irish Times Praises Frank Duff But Gets One Thing Wrong

Such was the great work of Legion of Mary founder Frank Duff that now even The Irish Times has praised his contribution to Irish society in the early Twentieth Century.

Although the clumsy headline 'Mother and Baby Home Controversy Overshadows Work of Frank Duff’ appears to bizarrely suggest that Frank Duff has been dragged into debates over Mother and Baby Homes, the rest of the article by Paddy Murray is surprisingly quite honest and fair.

Murray’s article starts brightly by mentioning that the Legion’s Centenary deserves more media coverage in Ireland, owing to its 10 million members around the world.

He then refers to the Regina Coeli Hostel, by stating that the Legion of Mary, ‘was behind the establishment of a Mother and Haby home in central Dublin’. The Regina Coeli

The opening line of the Irish Government’s Mother and Baby Home Report recently stated:

Regina Coeli was not a conventional mother and baby home.

The report also states:

There is no indication that Regina Coeli was originally planned as a mother and baby home.

And also:

The arguments against establishing large mother and baby homes did not receive serious consideration, and the only institution that came close to providing a hostel where mothers could work and keep their child was Regina Coeli, which was run by the Legion of Mary

It is universally recognised that the Legion of Mary established a system that was very different to the mainstream concept of ‘Mother and Baby Homes’ (as inherited from the Anglo Protestant system that preceded the Irish State. It is also universally recognised that it was a far more visibly Catholic manifestation of how women and children should be treated than those run by the government.

Not only were the Mother and Baby Homes not uniquely Irish, but they were in fact British, having been recommended and initiated under British rule. As the Commission reports:

Mother and baby homes were not an Irish solution to an Irish problem; Ireland was late in establishing mother and baby homes and the initial recommendation in favour of these special homes came from the 1906 Vice-Regal Commission on the Irish Poor Law.

Proposals for establishing special mother and baby homes emerged as part of a wider review of the Irish poor law that was initiated when Ireland was part of the United Kingdom.

Duff’s kindness and proactive approaches were Irish solutions to Irish problems, indeed, Catholic solutions.

Murray’s article rightly points out:

Duff believed that mothers and their babies should be together and not separated. It wasn’t a popular opinion in 1930 when he established the home.

The article also gives a fine example from Gordon Lewis, who was raised in the hostel and who says he greatly admires Duff for his work and for the difference that he made to his life and to others.

Yet, there can be no getting away from the bizarre claim of the headline that Duff’s work has been somehow ‘overshadowed by mother and baby home controversy’.

It simply has not.

Duff’s work has been ignored for the opposite reason, because his kindness, compassion and deep faith are an affront to Angela’s Ashes revisionism that claims all Irish people lived miserable and unhappy lives until Leo Varadkar led them in a celebration of abortion in Dublin Castle in 2018.

There are at least 10 million people around the world who know and appreciate the greatness of Duff on a weekly basis, it would be wonderful if the Legion of Mary were better understood and more appreciated in their home country, but some things are more important than the praise of others and a sign of a prophet is being left unappreciated in their hometown.

It is a positive thing that Legion of Mary has not sought the approval of the Irish mainstream media during this Centenary Year, it should instead continue its mission in helping those seeking material need, the homeless, sick and destitute as well as those in spiritual need, those who have lost their faith or who need to return to prayer.