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Girl in the Tunnel: My Story of Love and Loss as a Survivor of the Magdalene Laundries Paperback – April 25, 2023

by Maureen Sullivan (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 609 ratings
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A compelling new memoir by one of the youngest-known survivors of Ireland’ s infamous Magdalene laundries. Sullivan has been interviews extensively in the national media about her harrowing experiences. She discussed her ongoing fight for justice in RTÉ ’ s 2022 documentary Ireland’ s Dirty Laundry.
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  1. Print length
    256 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Merrion Press
  4. Publication date
    April 25, 2023
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.6 x 9.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1785374524
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1785374524
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

When little Maureen Sullivan was just twelve years old, she confided in her teacher that she was being physically and sexually abused by her stepfather. Never, in her darkest imaginings, could she have dreamt that she would be the one who would face harrowing punishment. Within twenty-four hours, Maureen was taken from her home and her beloved grandmother, and sent to the Magdalene Laundry in New Ross, Co. Wexford, run by the Order of the Good Shepherd nuns.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Merrion Press (April 25, 2023)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1785374524
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1785374524
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.6 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 609 ratings

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Maureen Sullivan

Maureen Sullivan

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
609 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Sam
5.0 out of 5 stars great book told with truth and humility
Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2024
Verified Purchase
Thank you for sharing your story with the world, to those who call you out shame on them! I read this book in one day and my heart broke turning the pages. The Catholic Church has a lot to answer for and I hope when one day you are reunited with your sweet granny that you will feel the love and peace you deserve, for now though, live and live fully, may God bless you and keep you and may all those who hurt you rot
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Beanie Fox
5.0 out of 5 stars Great story
Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2023
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Being a 71 year old female, this story touched my very soul. This kind of abuse happened all the time back then and no one ever did anything to stop it.....I know.
4 people found this helpful
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C
5.0 out of 5 stars Sad read but a story that needs to be heard.
Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2023
Verified Purchase
It’s a quick read but it punches hard. Different undertones subject within the main story
One person found this helpful
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Bridget
5.0 out of 5 stars Heartbreaking
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2023
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No one can imagine, unless they lived it. A stone cold heartless, cruel Catholic Church shattered the lives of children, small, innocent, defenseless children, in the name of what? In the name of whom?
Every woman who reads this will shiver for the unbearable hurt and suffering of the 1000’s of Maureen’s subjected to those heartless people.
I just wish Maureen we could go back in time, where I could find you and save you from all the heartache.
8 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer coastal Kathy
5.0 out of 5 stars Girl in the Tunnel
Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2023
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What an amazing book . I read this in one sitting. Such a sad but triumphant story . Incredible woman, beautiful writer.
3 people found this helpful
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Karee1651
5.0 out of 5 stars Heartrending
Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2023
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It’s hard to believe what happened to Maureen and the traumatic life she led at the hands of the Catholic Church in Ireland. Her story of survival, followed by her activism is astounding.
4 people found this helpful
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Petunia
5.0 out of 5 stars A Lost Childhood
Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2023
Maureen Sullivan's horrific and tender memories of her childhood are carefully pulled together by Liosa McNamara. The memoir is written with exquisite details that seem to perfectly and authentically capture Maureen's inner and outer experience. It is a
t once both touching and shocking. Liosa's very high quality writing and Maureen's deep memories shared with great bravery and honesty allow it to stand as a sort of female counterweight to Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt in its telling of the hidden harrowing experiences of many Irish girls and women.🥀
8 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Debs B
5.0 out of 5 stars A heart breaking story, told so beautifully.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 3, 2023
Verified Purchase
The sheer evilness of the nuns in the laundries beggars belief. They were inhumane and Maureen Sullivan is one amazing lady. To survive the horrors inflicted on her , first by her step father and then the nuns , fills me with sadness and anger at the wrongs done to the many survivors of the Magdalene laundries.
This is a very good book and worth reading, to learn of the atrocities done in the name of the Catholic Church in Ireland in the not so distant past.
3 people found this helpful
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Judy F
5.0 out of 5 stars Shocking Truth
Reviewed in Australia on November 5, 2023
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Not an easy read for anyone who can empathise with a child. Maureen’s story is indeed dreadful as there was such an absence of care in her life and such cruelty. But Maureen has survived, with scars of her torturous childhood of course. The role of ‘religious’ people in her life beggars belief in those who have never encountered it, and needs historical Catholic context to be even a little understood. Maureen’s telling of her experience is simply powerful.
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Mrs. D. Tomlinson
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 24, 2024
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Amazing book. Unbelievable how anyone could survive such abuse, let alone a young child. Shame on those wicked nuns and shame on the Catholic Church for allowing it.
Maureen - I’m in awe of you and so sorry this was the life you never should have had. Thank you for sharing your story. I hope you can find some peace and those nuns suffer for what they did to you in the name of religion. I’m Irish and brought up as Catholic but after reading this I don’t ever want to set foot in a Catholic Church again.
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All the mice love me
5.0 out of 5 stars Light at the end of a very dark tunnel
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 31, 2024
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What a sad, tragic story, of someone's life. Well told and simply written, but incredibly honest and heartfelt. I really empathised with Maureen, for what she had to endure from such a young age. The lack of love and protection from her mother, the physical and sexual abuse from her stepfather, and the incarceration and stripping of her identity by nuns that psychologically affected her into late adulthood. Such a shame that the only person who did love her, her granny, wasn't allowed to let her permanently live with her. But unfortunately, even in the 1960s, the preists had so much power over the communities that the state was allowing them to make the decisions that would break families and destroy young lives. When much later in life, when Maureen was brave enough to be able to request the truth about her past, I cried. The reply she got from a very officious nun, who had zero empathy, and struggled to denounce what the Catholic Church had done was wrong, was simply shocking. Why they have not been tried for the barbarous acts of inhumanity, slavery, abuse, mental, physical, emotional and sexual, and unable to account for deaths, suspicious, and otherwise, that have passed through their numerous institutions, I cannot understand. This book will make you sad and angry for the sheer injustice that Maureen suffered, but glad that she has been able to find the strength to overcome her problems and help others who have been in similar situations. Highly recommended.
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@MCoxall82
5.0 out of 5 stars Harrowing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 11, 2024
Verified Purchase
Girl In The Tunnel is a memoir of Maureen Sullivan, a survivor of the Magdalene Laundries, a system of institutions run by Catholic nuns in Ireland that exploited and abused thousands of women and girls for decades. Sullivan was only twelve years old when she was taken from her home and sent to the laundry in New Ross, Co. Wexford, where she endured unimaginable horrors and hardships. She was forced to work long hours in inhumane conditions, beaten, starved, and hidden in an underground tunnel when inspectors came. She was denied an education, a childhood, and a voice. She was treated as a slave, a sinner, and a nobody.

Sullivan’s story is a testament to her courage, resilience, and strength. She does not shy away from the painful details of her abuse, but she also shares the moments of love and hope that sustained her. She writes with honesty, compassion, and dignity, giving a voice to the voiceless and exposing the truth about the Magdalene Laundries. She also chronicles her fight for justice and recognition, as well as her struggles with trauma and healing. She shows how she reclaimed her identity, her freedom, and her life.

Girl In The Tunnel is a harrowing and heartbreaking book, but also a powerful and inspiring one. It is a story of survival, resistance, and redemption. It is a story of a woman who refused to be silenced, who fought for her rights, and who found her voice. It is a story that deserves to be read, heard, and remembered.
One person found this helpful
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