The article tells the story of 93-year-old Chrissie Tully, who resides in a modest house in Loughrea, Galway, where she lives alone with her dog. After becoming pregnant in 1949, she was sent to St. Mary's Mother and Baby Home and has been waiting for her son, whom she never got to hold, for 76 years. The narrative highlights the grim legacy of these homes in Ireland, where unwed mothers faced societal and familial rejection amidst the strictures of the Catholic Church, bringing attention to enduring injustices.
The house is at the end of the road, nestled behind a playground in Loughrea, an ancient town in County Galway. Built of white stone with gray trim, it has lace curtains, a statue of the Virgin Mary and two small bedrooms, one pink, the other blue.
As a teenager, Chrissie Tully fell in love with a man in her neighborhood, and in 1949, she became pregnant. What happened next would follow a grim, common script in midcentury Ireland.
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