'Let us die in comfort and grow old with dignity' - Limerick woman (73) on hunger strike

FOR THE past 13 days, 73-year-old Mary Dunlevy Greene, has only been drinking water with electrolytes and tea or coffee, while sleeping rough outside.

The mother and grandmother, is one of four people on hunger strike outside Leinster House, as part of an emotive and striking protest, calling for services and support for survivors of industrial and reformatory schools. 

Originally from Kilteely, but now living in Carlow with her husband, Mrs Dunlevy Greene told Limerick Live this Friday that she never wanted to share the horrors of her life in what was called ‘The Mount’ - Mount St Vincent Industrial School on O’Connell Avenue in Limerick, but that she must stand up for her convictions. 

READ MORE: Limerick charity warns of major hidden family struggles

Less than 4,000 survivors of industrial and reformatory schools are asking the Government for universal medical cards and State pensions, for the time they spent as what Mary describes as “inmates” of the State. 

She said they were promised these things 26 years ago, but that they got nothing and despite meeting with Minister Helen McEntee, their demands have not been met and they continue their strike. 

Mrs Dunlevy Greene is on hunger strike with three others - Miriam Moriarty Owens (68), Maurice Patton O’Connell (57), and Mary Donovan (57) and all have praised the homeless charities who have been providing them with tarpaulins in the stormy weather, as well as health checks from paramedics and any support they need. 

Mrs Dunlevy Greene told Limerick Live that the Government were notified of the group’s intention to go on hunger strike during the summer and again weeks in advance before they took part in this “drastic action.” 

They have received positive public support, with many signing petitions and wanting to hear their stories about their experiences.

“We are used to hunger after all those years in the homes, but this is re-traumatising us and bringing us back,” Mrs Dunlevy Greene said. 

Speaking of being 73-years-old and not in the best of health, Mrs Dunlevy Greene said that the hunger strike is tough, particularly with the stormy weather, but that “we are getting weaker in body, but getting stronger in our determination.” 

She describes how her mother died in childbirth and when she was just four-years-old, herself and three brothers were taken from their home by the State and brought to court to be signed over as being under the care of the State. 

She still holds a criminal record from that very court hearing and when she was released from ‘The Mount’ at the age of 18, she talks about being “put outside the door when my sentence was up, without a penny, to find my own way.” 

Speaking about the trauma which remains to this day, Mrs Dunlevy Greene said that she can’t even go into a hospital, because the walls and floors bring her back to her time in the home and she can see herself on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor. 

Mrs Dunlevy Greene was separated from her brothers, they were sent to an industrial school in Cork, while she went to Limerick and her father could not visit all of them, and when he did, she said he was told that the children were no longer his responsibility and they were under the care of the State. 

“Our family remained completely fractured, I am one of the lucky survivors, I met a good man and have a fantastic family,” she told Limerick Live.

She added: “My saving grace was that I left the country, I went to the UK and I was anonymised, nobody asked where I was from or where I went to school and I was able to progress off my own back.”

The Limerick mother and grandmother said that many of the health issues suffered are a direct result of the work they did when they were what she describes as “child slaves”, and as a result of the neglect they suffered. 

“We got no love, no care - nothing.

“We were told that nobody loved us, that nobody cared about us and that we would amount to nothing.” 

She spoke about the public in Limerick crossing the street when they were seen outside, so as not to be seen near “the orphans” - but Mrs Dunlevy Greene was adamant in saying “I was no orphan. I was kidnapped from my home with no personal items and I never saw my reflection in a mirror until I left.

“I didn’t even have my own underwear, we changed it once a week and picked something that fit from a pile, nothing was marked or belonged to anyone,” the Kilteely native said. 

As many survivors of these homes have passed away, the group on hunger strike believe that the cost to the State of meeting their demands and giving them universal medical cards and State pensions, would be minimal. 

“We want to die in comfort and grow old with dignity,” she said. 

Speaking in the Dáil this week, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said: “It’s difficult for the survivors concerned to be on hunger strike - it can have health implications, so Government will engage and I would hope that people could come off the hunger strike.” 

The group of four survivors on hunger strike say that they will continue to not eat and to sleep rough, until their needs are met and the State gives them back what was taken from them as children and teenagers.