logo
Timeline: Grim history of Ireland's mother and baby homes

Timeline: Grim history of Ireland's mother and baby homes

Washington Post2 days ago
Exhumation of a mass grave has begun in Tuam, Ireland, at the site of a former mother and baby home — one of several that once operated across the country.
The burial site, which could hold the remains of nearly 800 infants and young children, has forced the country and the Catholic Church to contend with its decades-long legacy of shunning unmarried mothers and separating them from their children left at the mercy of a cruel system.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Sheep are so much more than livestock. They are literary influencers.
Sheep are so much more than livestock. They are literary influencers.

Washington Post

time11 hours ago

  • Washington Post

Sheep are so much more than livestock. They are literary influencers.

Sheep! Where to begin? How about early Western civilization. Jason, our most famous Argonaut, retrieved the Golden Fleece, the wool from a winged ram. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God. In the Middle East and in Europe, sheep husbandry, along with the wool trade, shaped commerce. The pastoral, a literary genre, would not exist without sheep. Sheep wandered into fairy tales, nursery rhymes, puppetry and the terrific poem 'The Sheep Child' by James Dickey. Centuries after industrialization and technology transformed the natural world came Dolly, our first clone, a sheep.

Amsterdam is building tiny staircases to help cats exit its canals
Amsterdam is building tiny staircases to help cats exit its canals

Yahoo

time11 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Amsterdam is building tiny staircases to help cats exit its canals

Amsterdam has allocated up to €100,000 to install steps along city centre canals to help cats out of the water. The tiny wooden staircases aim to save felines and other animals from drowning in areas with high walls. According to animal welfare organisation Dierenambulance Amsterdam, 19 cats have drowned in the city's canals in the last six months – six of them in the city centre. Judith Krom from the Party for the Animals (PvdD) proposed that Amsterdam spend an unused €100,000 fund found in the city's biodiversity plan to fund the wildlife exit points. Councillor for animal welfare Zita Pels had already supported the plan but had previously noted that 'funding was lacking', said PvdD. On 10 July, the Amsterdam City Council voted in favour of Krom's motion. Krom said: 'A simple measure can prevent enormous animal suffering. 'The adopted motion demonstrates that as a city, we take responsibility for protecting the lives of animals.' The Dutch capital will work with Dierenambulance to identify areas where cats are most likely to drown before the small animal escape routes are installed. Steps will then be built at the highest-risk locations later this year to help cats safely climb back onto the shore. It's not the only city taking steps to improve canal safety for animals. In June, Amersfoort, a nearby city in the Netherlands, announced the construction of around 300 cat traps along its quays and canals this year. Amersfoort councillor Johnas van Lammeren said: 'Unfortunately, animals that end up in water in areas with high quays or quay walls can't get out and drown. 'Together with the animal ambulance, a research agency, and residents from Vathorst and other areas, we've mapped out where cat traps are needed. We'll be installing hundreds of them in the coming period, preventing a great deal of animal suffering.' The municipality plans to install approximately 300 cat stairs per year as part of an animal welfare sub-environmental program that the municipal council adopted in 2024.

In a Spanish Vineyard, an Unsung Engineer Finally Gets a Toast
In a Spanish Vineyard, an Unsung Engineer Finally Gets a Toast

New York Times

time15 hours ago

  • New York Times

In a Spanish Vineyard, an Unsung Engineer Finally Gets a Toast

The long, butter-colored building with green stripes lies low in a Spanish vineyard like a steel caterpillar. It is a rare species — believed to be the only prefabricated metal house of its type in Europe by a prolific yet little remembered French engineer named Ferdinand Fillod. The building, the Tropical Pavilion, a 969-square-foot steel structure dating to 1951, will be on view through September at Terra Remota, a winery in northeastern Spain. After that, architecture buffs can travel to Vietnam, Martinique or Réunion Island, east of Madagascar, if they want to see another example. Or they can buy this one. The price is 900,000 euros (about $1.06 million). Born in 1891, Fillod began his career manufacturing steel agricultural equipment, including boilers, manure tanks and storage sheds. With the increased demand for housing in interwar France, he developed ideas for affordable dwellings made of metal. He filed his first architectural patent in the late 1920s, several years before similar experiments by his better-known countryman Jean Prouvé, as historians have pointed out. The pavilion in Spain, which includes a 323-square-foot terrace, went on display in June after a restoration by its owner, Clément Cividino, the founder of a modern design gallery in nearby Perpignan, France. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store